The Girls of Supernatural
by SamGirl27
Summary: This is the sequel to 'Warping to Destiny.' After Sam and Dean return from the other world, their soul mates, Katie and Maggie inform them they intend to become hunters. When the boys object, the girls decide to teach them a lesson, one that Sam and Dean very well may not enjoy learning.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Gone Hunting**

The geological center of the United States lies in the state of Kansas in a town called Lebanon. It just so happens that some very important people live there, though they are mostly unknown to the population. Two couples live in discreet anonymity inside a large bunker type dwelling, affectionately known as 'the Bat Cave' by its inhabitants. The two brothers, often referred to as 'the boys' by those who know and love them, had quietly saved the world on several occasions, while the said world had gone on about it's business unaware of it's impending doom, or that it's people had been saved from it.

In addition to saving their own world, the boys had recently been called upon to save yet another world, a totally different kind of world. They managed to do so, but not without a few painful consequences.

Two weeks had passed since Sam and Dean Winchester had come back home from their harrowing experience that had lasted over a month on their end, to their loving soul mates, Katie and Maggie Rosetti. It had been a wonderful two weeks, overall, with plenty of loving, along with some tears and laughter, and a lot of self-reflection. They had had to leave the girls they loved, the two sisters who had turned out to be their soul mates, chosen by the head Angel of Love himself, and brought to them from a parallel world through a portal that resided in the back seat of Dean's Impala.

The boys' recent experience had told them like nothing else ever had that life could be snuffed out in the blink of an eye, that one had to latch on to what was good in life before it was too late. Or maybe other experiences had told them that in the past, but they just didn't have anyone in their lives then to make the realization matter all that much. But this new found realization had led to each of them proposing to their own mate within two days of their return, and of course, both girls had said yes.

But as wonderful as the homecoming had been, there were some not so happy moments. Moments that came about when Dean had to confess to Maggie that he had turned into a demon on the other world, and while in that form he had cheated on her. And moments that came about when the boys found out what the girls had been up to in their absence. The knowledge of their escapades had made the boys furious, but it was an anger born of fear, stemming from the very soul searching that had led them to propose soon after they got back themselves. The fear that life was too short, and could be taken away without warning.

True, they had to concede that the girls had done especially well, and secretly they were both very proud of them. The girls had been smart, and careful, and if truth be told what they had done and how they had done it, had kind of blown them away. Nevertheless, they had been out there dealing with demons, and the very thought of that drove icy fear into their hearts.

It will be completely understandable then, to hear of the reaction they had when, two weeks after arriving home, after all the antics had been dissected and talked about until there was nothing left, after all of them had settled down and were just happy that they were all still in the land of the living, the girls dropped yet another bombshell on them.

It happened at breakfast. The boys were finally feeling fairly mellow after going through their own harrowing experiences, and then coming home to find out the shenanigans that had been going on while they were gone. Yes, fairly mellow. So it seemed completely out of the blue when Katie said, rather matter-of-factly, "Maggie and I are going to be hunters, and we want you to teach us."

"What?" said Dean softly, while Sam just stared in complete shock. "I don't think I heard that right."

"Sure you did," said Maggie. "You just don't want to acknowledge it. "she said, reaching for the milk. "We always thought we wanted to be hunters, and after what we did, and very well, I might add, we are sure of it. We are going to be hunters."

"Over my dead body!" Dean exclaimed. "There is no freaking way you two are ever going to be hunters. You've had your one and only hunt."

"Sam?" Katie said, looking at Sam, "What do you have to say about this?" she asked.

Sam looked a bit nervous and glanced at his brother. "I don't like it Katie, I kind of agree with Dean," he said. "It's too dangerous. If you were out there with us, we'd be too worried about you and we'd screw up and get one of us killed. Or worse, one of you."

"Fine, then, we won't hunt together. Maggie and I will be our own team. I mean we do have our own car after all." Maggie was referring to the '71 Barracuda they had bought while the boys were away, though it was currently in parts in the garage awaiting a new hemi engine and a few other parts to be delivered.

"No!" said Dean. "You will not. It's just not gonna happen," he said emphatically. "Forget about it!"

Maggie glared at him icily and said, "And just what do you think we should do while you two are out getting into god knows what kind of trouble? Are we just supposed to sit here and knit sweaters?. Maybe you'd rather we just bake and stock the freezer with pies!"

"That's a good idea," said Dean.

"Look," said Katie. "I know this isn't something you've even contemplated before, so we understand it might be hard for you to accept at first. But we can talk about it and come to some kind of arrangement you can live with."

"The only arrangement I can live with," said Dean, "is one where you two are not out hunting."

Katie's jaw dropped in surprise, and she made an 'I can't believe this' noise. "What? You aren't even willing to discuss it?"

"Nope," said Dean, who was going right on eating his breakfast. "No point in discussing it. Not gonna happen."

"Dean," said Sam, seeing something in the girls' faces that he was sure Dean was missing. "It wouldn't hurt to discuss it some."

Dean looked at Sam in total surprise. "Are you out of your freaking mind?" he asked. "Do you really want your future wife out there fighting monsters?"

"No, I don't," said Sam. "But I also know how they feel about being told what they can and can't do. I'm the one that got that lecture, remember, and I haven't forgotten it. So I think we really ought to discuss it."

"You discuss it then," Dean said, getting up and putting his dishes in the sink. "I'm not discussing it, and I'm not changing my mind. It's just not gonna happen," he said, as he stalked out of the kitchen.

After Dean left the kitchen, Katie said, "Sam, you need to help him understand something. We love you guys with every fiber of our being. But we are grown adults, capable of making our own decisions. And if he is going to be like this about it, then he's not going to like the results. If you won't teach us, we will find someone who will, or we will learn on the job. But we're doing this."

"Katie, please don't." Sam said pleadingly. " Please reconsider this idea."

"Sammy, sweetheart, I love you. But Maggie and I, we've talked this over for hours, and our minds are made up. I know I sound as much like Dean does, making a flat out statement and I'm sorry. But we want this. We want your blessing and your help, we do. But with it or without it, we are doing this."

Sam sighed, sat back in his chair and shook his head.

"I hate saying this," he said. "But it sounds like you're not willing to reconsider, even if we were to discuss it. All you want is time to talk us into it. And I can't, my heart won't let me, I just can't say that this is all right with me, it isn't. So if you do this, then you do it knowingly against my wishes. I'm sorry," he said, sadly, and he too, got up and walked away.

A few hours later Katie and Maggie went to the study where they found the boys pretending to be looking up something. They sat down and waited until the boys got tired of pretending they weren't there, and looked up at them.

"Look, guys, we get it, we do," said Katie. "But try to look at it from our point of view. We are sorry that what we feel we are inside is something you don't want us to be, or do. But that something is part of what makes us your soul mates, it's part of who we are, don't you see that?"

"No," said Dean. "Yes... I don't know.

"We also have skills that you don't have that we can bring to the table. You know what we did. We were great. We ran that con perfectly." Maggie said, with excitement.

Dean looked down at the table, pissed. Finally he looked up and said, loudly, "Yes, you ran a great con. But it was against a demon for god's sake. You could have been killed. You got lucky."

"We did NOT just get lucky," Katie argued, also raising her voice. "We were careful, it was carefully planned and well thought out, we had backup, we even had a plan B. So please, whatever else you think, don't devalue what we did and call it luck! That's just insulting!"

"You're right, okay, I'm sorry," Dean said in a more reasonable tone. "I do happen to think you did well. I'm actually proud of you. But don't you understand how scared we are, how scared for you we would have been if we'd known at the time what you were doing?"

"Of course we do," Katie answered. "Soon, you two are going to get back out on the road, now that we don't have to stay locked up in here. How do you think we will feel then? We'd rather be with you, knowing what's going on, and helping, rather than being stuck back here just waiting."

"I get that," said Dean. "Look, You can be a great help, back here. You're a researcher aren't you? Ever since we lost Keven, it's been damn hard. We need someone here to do background stuff like he used to do."

"And that's fine," said Katie. "We don't mind that. We just don't want that to be all we do." She took a deep breath and said, "Listen. What we did while you were gone, it made us feel alive. Don't forget, we aren't strangers to fighting. We've been in knife fights, gun fights, hand to hand fights. We've run from cops, we've pulled cons. We've been thieves."

"And what we did with that demon," she continued, "well it made us remember that sometimes that life made us feel good. There was something exhilarating about it. I know how bad that sounds, but I'm sure you two feel it when you hunt too. Please don't deny us that."

"Dean," Maggie cut in. "Let me ask you something."

Dean turned to her and raised his eyebrows, waiting.

"Would you guys give up hunting if we asked you to?"

That set them aback a little and they did some of their silent communications. "Baby, that would be asking us not to be who we are. Hunting is all we know. What would we do if we didn't hunt? We don't have it in us to know something bad is out there, and just sit here and not do anything."

Maggie stared at him significantly. "Don't you see, that's exactly what you are asking us to do. Don't you see we feel the same way, and we have the skills to do something about it."

Dean sighed and shook his head. "It's not the same. I don't see it. And even if I do, I can't… I just can't bring myself to agree to this. Please try to understand."

"You won't even give it some time? Consider it for a while?"

"I can't. I'm not changing my mind on this one."

Katie then turned to Sam. "You haven't said a word this whole time. Whose side are you on?

"Katie," he said. "It's not a matter of taking sides. It's a matter of how I feel. And no matter how Dean feels, I'm not happy about putting you two in harm's way. I'm sure there are things you can help us with. It's not always a fight. But you don't have to be hunters to do things to help."

"Soooo, you're saying it's the concept of us being hunters that's the problem here?" she asked. "It's okay for us to be researchers, or helpers, or sit in the back seaters, while you go off and do the actual hunting part? Does that about wrap it up?"

Sam and Dean did their unspoken communications again, and then they started nodding. "Yeah," said Dean, "that about sums up how we feel."

"I see," said Katie, evenly. She looked from one to the other. "Do you consider us your equals, in this relationship?"

"Of course we do." they both said.

"And you don't see that what you just both agreed is the way you feel about this argument we're having, is that we," pointing back and forth between herself and Maggie, "are somehow less equal than you two are?"

Both boys frowned and shrugged and shook their heads. "No," Sam said. "It doesn't mean that at all." And Dean agreed.

"Okay then," said Katie, looking at Maggie for overt agreement. "We'll just have to see how it all turns out." As they turned to leave the room, Katie looked back and said, "Oh, and thanks for at least discussing it. I think we all know where we stand now."

"So what do you think?" Dean asked Sam after the girls had left.

Sam grimaced. "I don't know. I just hope they get over it soon."

"You think they will?" Dean asked.

"Probably. Maybe. Hopefully. I mean how long can they keep it up? I think they exhausted all their arguments," Sam said, but he wasn't all that sure he was telling the truth, even to himself.

"The problem," said Dean, shaking his head, "is that I get it. I get everything they're saying man, I do. It's just every time I think of them out there actually confronting the kinds of things we do, something turns my stomach into knots."

"I hear that," Sam agreed. "But Dean, if they really decided to go do something, like maybe when we're gone, we can't stop 'em. We can't tie 'em down ya know? Maybe , and I'm just sayin' maybe, we ought to give in a little."

"God!" said Dean. "I don't even wanna think about that. Let's just give it a day or two. Maybe they'll back off. If not, well then, I guess we'll see." He shook his head again and said, "Let's just watch the games today, maybe get our minds off of this for a bit."

"Yeah it is almost game time. Guess we missed lunch."

"I'll go grab some beers and something to eat. I'll meet you in the viewing room."

When Dean got to the kitchen, Katie and Maggie were just finishing up some lunch. He went to the fridge and got out some beers and the makings for sandwiches. He looked over at the girls and asked, "So how you guys doing, you okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," said Maggie.

"Yep, Just fine," said Katie.

"Ahhh, guess you guys are mad, huh? Since you didn't call us for lunch."

"You don't need us," said Maggie smiling. "You're perfectly capable of making your own lunches."

"Huh," said Dean. "Yep, you're mad."

He made two sandwiches in silence and put everything away again. He noted that the dishes he used at breakfast were still in the sink, while everything else had been cleaned up. He walked toward the door, turned back, and made his 'okay if that's how you want it' face and left.

"See the girls?" asked Sam, when Dean joined him in the viewing room.

"Yeah, I did. They are... 'fine,'" he said, emphasizing the word. "I think we're being punished. They ate lunch without us, said we didn't need them, we could get our own lunch."

"Ah," said Sam.

When dinner time came and went with still no sign of the girls, who usually would be with them at a time like this, Sam got up and said "I'm gonna go check on the girls."

Dean got up too and followed right behind him. They weren't in the study or the kitchen. They weren't in the workout room or the park or the restaurant. They went through the bunker calling their names. They weren't in any of the libraries either. When they weren't in the bedrooms they shared with the boys, they stopped and looked at each other. "Oh no," said Sam.

"Christ," said Dean, and they turned to go to the room the girls had shared when they first got there.

Sam tapped on the door. "Who is it?" one of them said.

"Come on Katie, don't do this. You know who it is."

"I used to think I knew who you were. Now I'm not so sure."

Both boys sighed and closed their eyes in frustration.

"Maggie?" Dean yelled. "Don't you think this is just a little bit childish?"

"No," came the answer.

"Okay, fine, have it your way," yelled Dean. "When you're ready to grow up again, you know where to find me," he added, and stalked away.

"Katie," said Sam, "It's me. Can we talk please?"

There was a long pause, then, "I'm sorry Sam, maybe tomorrow."

Sam thumped his head against the wall and sighed. Then he went to his room to sleep in an empty bed.

In the morning the boys met up in the kitchen. "Any sign of the girls yet?" Sam asked.

"Nope," Dean answered. "But I haven't been here that long."

"I'll go see if they'll talk to us yet," he said. Then he turned back to face Dean. "Dude, I gotta tell ya, I don't feel good about this. I don't like sleeping in an empty bed. Maybe this is one we shouldn't try to win."

Dean sighed, leaning his hands on the counter and lowering his head. "Yeah maybe you're right. I don't like it, but goddamn it I don't like things this way either."

Sam nodded. "I'll go tell them we'll talk some more," and headed off to their room. In a few minutes he came back in a panic. "Dean, they aren't there."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure. When they didn't answer, I opened the door and looked. They aren't there."

"God I hate this," Dean said quietly. "Okay maybe they just went home to talk to their mother," he said, taking a bite of his toast. "Isn't that what girls do?"

"Yeah, maybe," Sam said. For some unknown reason, that made him open the door to the garage as though he could see some trace of them having used the portal. "Uh, Dean? I don't think they went home to see their mom."

"Why not?" Dean asked with his mouth full.

"Because when they do that, the Impala usually stays in the garage."

"What!" shouted Dean, jumping up from his chair and joining Sam at the door? "Son-of-a-bitch!" he yelled. "They took my goddamn car!" He kept pacing around and rubbing his face and his hair and mumbling about how he couldn't believe they would take his Baby. But then it hit him, "Maggie!" he said in a panic. "Maggie's gone!"

"Yes she is," said Sam unhappily. "Along with Katie." He glared at Dean. "Why couldn't you have just given an inch Dean? Now they're both gone to god knows where."

"Oh, so this is all my fault now?" Dean challenged him. "You had nothing to do with it, is that what you're saying?"

"I'm saying that I tried to tell you to discuss it, because you know they don't do what people tell them. And that includes us."

"Yeah well I heard you telling them you agreed with me, that you didn't want them to be hunters either. So don't you put this all on me."

Sam tried to calm down. "Look, Dean!" he said. "The more time we spend arguing, the more time we're giving them to get away."

Dean took in a long breath and let it out slowly. "Okay You're right," he said. "You're right. We need to approach this like a job. Find out where they went off to."

"Maybe they left something in the room," Sam said. "I didn't really look for anything like that."

They all but ran to the girls' room. At first there didn't seem to be any notes or anything. Then Sam spied a post card leaning up against one of the night stand lamps. He went over and picked it up. "Dean," he said, holding the card out for Dean to read. The card was a scenic view of Kansas City. All it said was, "Gone Hunting. Wish you were here." and then in smaller writing at the bottom was added," Don't take this card as a clue. You'd be wasting your time."

Dean sat down on the bed in disbelief. "Oh dear god, what have we done?" he asked himself softly.

* * *

Dear readers,

This story is a sequel to "Warping to Destiny." If you haven't read that one yet, you may want to start there. As usual, I would enjoy some feedback about the chapter, what you liked or didn't like. I am also in the process of writing a non-fanfiction book, and your feedback on this one can help me continue to improve my writing. Thank you for reading.

SamGirl27 aka Kat


	2. Chapter 2

**Katie and Maggie**

"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Maggie asked her sister as they headed onto the Interstate.

"I believe we are," Katie said. "But if you're having second thoughts, if you don't feel okay about it, we can turn around right now and go back home."

After a few minutes Maggie said, "No, if we do that they will never take us seriously. I just miss Dean is all."

"I know sweetie, I miss Sam too. And we just got them back. But damn it, why did they have to be so hard-nosed about this? Especially Dean." Katie looked over at her sister and touched her shoulder. "We've gone over this, Sweetie. If we let them just order us like they did, it will cause a lot of problems down the road. They have to learn how to treat us like equals."

"I know that, I do. It just sucks."

"That it does, Sweetie, that it does."

"What do you suppose they did when they found out?" Maggie asked.

"That depends. Do you mean when they found out we're gone, or when they found out we took the Impala?"

Maggie had to laugh at that. "Oh my god," she said. "I would love to have been a fly on the wall when Dean found that out. I can actually hear him rant and rave about it."

"You gotta wonder what he's mad about the most, us or the car."

"I suspect it was the car, at least at first. I mean I hate to say it but it's true," Maggie said.

"Okay, so after Dean rants about the car, and they realize we're actually gone, what will they do?"

"Maybe they won't do anything," Maggie said. "Maybe they'll just wait for us to go home."

"Do you seriously think they could possibly do that?" Katie asked.

"No not really," Maggie said laughing. "I imagine right about now they're trying to figure out where we went and what we're doing… And honestly, I doubt it will take them all that long."

"You're right about that," her sister said, "so let's get a move on. If we don't make our point before they find us, we never will."

* * *

**Sam and Dean**

"Do you really think they're actually on a hunt?" Sam asked his brother.

"Ya know, yeah I do. They're out to prove a point. Let's go check the GPS on their phones."

Sam chuckled. "What? All twenty of them?" he asked.

"Did you ever think to get all the new numbers they bought?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"No." Sam answered.

"Well neither did I," Dean said. "So let's at least just try the ones we know, okay?"

They went to the study to check the locations on the girls' phones. Sam had to laugh.

"What?" Dean asked.

Maggie's phone is in Paris," Sam said, "and Katie's is in Rio."

Dean swore under his breath, "Damn it Maggie."

"Oh and get this," Sam said. "The car is in London."

Dean stared at his brother. "If I weren't so pissed I'd have a good laugh at that. I love her, god knows I do, but right about now I could wring her pretty neck."

"They aren't going to make this easy on us Dean. They're trying to prove how good they are."

"Yeah, and unfortunately for us, they really are good," Dean said. "The stuff they did while we were gone was amazing. And they have better fake ID's than we do."

Sam had to laugh. "Are you praising them or bitching about them?"

"I don't know, "Dean said, his frustration evident in his voice. "Both I guess. You're taking this much better than I am," he added.

"I have to admit I'm amused. This feels like a game to me. We could make it fun. See if we can catch up to them before they get themselves into something they can't get out of."

Dean glared at his brother. "Sometimes you worry me Sammy," he said. Then, after a pause of a minute or so he said, "Okay so let's try to think like them. If they went on a hunt they had to find it somehow, right? So see what you can find that they might have gone to."

"What are you gonna do?" Sam asked.

"I'm gonna go see if I can figure out what all they took."

When Dean came back he was shaking his head. "They took all their gear, which makes sense. But they also took their new dresses."

"Why?"

"You think I know? Do I look like a girl to you? How the hell am I supposed to know how they think?"

"Calm down Dean."

"You calm down. I don't wanna calm down. I wanna punch something," he said, and to emphasize the point, he punched the wall. "Ouch!," he yelled, holding his hand between his legs and dancing around. "Son-of-a-bitch!"

"Feel better now?" Sam asked laughing.

"Shut up Sam."

"Okay, here, look at this Dean."

Sam came over to read the article Sam had found. A woman was found mauled to death in her home with all the doors and windows locked. She had just returned from a year abroad, where she had gone after her husband's murder, saying it was too painful to stay in the house after his death. She was killed on her very first night back.

"You think this could be it?" Dean asked.

"Well it's the only thing I found anywhere near this part of the country. It sounds like our kind of thing."

"Yeah it does. You thinking ghost? Vengeful spirit?"

"Sounds like it. Maybe she offed her husband and he got revenge as soon as she got back," Sam answered.

"You really see our girls out there digging up graves to torch the bones?" Dean asked.

"I don't see why not. There are other female hunters out there. You think they avoid ghost jobs because they can't dig up the bones?"

"Yeah, I hear ya. Plus our girls have all that money at their disposal. They could hire someone to do the digging."

"Not to mention all their new black-eyed friends. Hell for all we know they took their new bestie Georgie."

"Oh, if they did," Dean said, "that's gonna be one messed up demon. I need to hurt something, Sam. And he would be asking for it."

"What? Cause he's with the girls?" Sam asked incredulously.

"Damn straight," Dean yelled. "You mess with our girls, you get punched. New rule."

Sam chuckled. "I remember a new rule that got me punched for taking your car. You gonna punch the girls Dean?"

Dean stopped cold for a second. "No, of course not," Dean said. "But I might put them over my knee and spank them."

"Not Katie, you don't," Sam said. "I have my own plans in mind for getting even with her."

"That borders on too much information, little brother."

Sam laughed and said, "Dean, you really need to chill. This isn't the end of the world here."

"Fine, let's go get our gear and get on the road. They have half a day at least on us," Dean said. "Plus, they have my goddamn car!"

* * *

**Katie and Maggie**

The girls entered the Police Department looking totally FBI in their tailored suits. They flashed their badges and asked for the detective in charge of the Hanson murder. "Are you…?" the desk sergeant began to ask.

"Yes, we're sisters. No we're not twins," Katie answered his question before it was asked. The detective, please?" she added.

"Yes, of course," he said, and directed them to Lt. Lupo's desk.

"Lt. Lupo?" Katie asked with a smile. "I'm agent Hatcher and this is agent Hatcher," Katie said. When he opened his mouth to speak, she added, "Yes, we're sisters, no we're not twins."

"Guess you get that a lot, huh?" he asked grinning.

"Enough," she answered. "We're here about the Hanson murder," she said.

"How is that and FBI issue?" he asked them.

"Don't worry, Lt. we aren't here to grab your case. It has some similarities to a few strange cases in other areas, so we'd just like to take a peek at your file and check out the crime scene."

"Sure," he said. "Happy to help." He walked over and picked up a file from an unoccupied desk and came back, "Detective Rover is lead on the case, and he's at the scene now. I'll give him a heads up that you're on your way. You can leave the file with him when you're through."

"Thank you so much," Katie said, giving him a big smile, and he gave them both a big smile of his own, watching them leave until they were out of site.

On the way to the crime scene, Katie's phone beeped with a message. "The boys have stolen a car, and look to be headed in this direction," she said laughing. "I told you it wouldn't occur to them to take some of the money and buy a car. They're too set in their ways."

When they got to the Hanson House, the detective was waiting for them with a big smile. "My Lt. said to give you every cooperation, so let me know if there's anything I can do for you," he said.

"Thank you so much," said Katie. "Right now we'd just like to look around the place."

"Be my guest," he replied.

The girls went upstairs to where the crime had occurred and opened the file to look at the crime scene photos. It was a gruesome murder. Mrs. Hanson was basically shredded to pieces and there was blood everywhere. The file indicated, as had the news story, that the place had been locked up tight, shutters and everything.

"Still looks like a ghost," said Katie.

Back downstairs they sought out the Detective again, and Katie asked him, "Was the husband's murder ever solved?"

"No," he said. "That's still an open case. The wife was investigated, but she seemed to have an air tight alibi."

"He was also stabbed here in this house, correct?" asked Maggie.

"That's right," he answered. "and again, the house was locked up tight."

"Hmm," Katie mused. "Detective, would you happen to know where he was buried?"

"Actually he was cremated," the detective answered. "The Mrs. took his ashes to scatter them in the mountains at his favorite get away place. I actually was on that case as well."

"Was there anything about it that struck you as odd?" Maggie asked.

"You mean besides the murder taking place in a locked house while the victim was alone in it?" he asked. "Actually, it wasn't really odd, but I did suspect the Mrs. at first. We just couldn't break her alibi. She was at an awards dinner where she was seen by dozens of prominent citizens."

"What about an accomplice?" Katie asked.

"Never could find any real possibility there either. The case was a real puzzler. Still is. And now this one."

"Thanks, detective, you've been very helpful. We'll still look around if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he said pleasantly. "I'd love it if you could solve this one for me."

The girls went back upstairs to dig around some more. "Now how do you suppose his ghost is still here if he was cremated?" Katie asked her sister.

"An object perhaps?"

"A possibility. Let's see what we can find that fits the bill."

The girls searched the upstairs rooms quite thoroughly for almost an hour when Maggie cried out "Bingo!"

Katie went to see what she had. Maggie had found a scrapbook buried amongst other stuff on the top shelf of a closet. It depicted the couple in earlier days, and taped nicely alongside portraits of each of them was a lock of their hair.

"This has to be it," said Katie enthusiastically. "This is almost too easy."

"Well don't get too excited," Maggie said. "I doubt many other cases will be all that easy." She took the locks of hair out of the books and suddenly there was a strong wind blowing through the room and the book was flung out of her hands.

"I think we spoke too soon," Katie said. "Let's get those locks lit up."

The detective came into the room saying, "What's all the racket? What the…?" He looked shocked as the wind was blowing anything loose and fairly light around the room like a whirlwind.

The wind was obviously trying to tear the locks of hair out of Maggie's hands. Katie opened a lighter as Maggie held out the locks of hair. It was hard going against the wind but she finally managed to get them lit, and as they began to burn in earnest there was a horrendous scream, and a burning figure appeared in the middle of the room. The scream faded out as the last of the hair caught fire in the ashtray Maggie had placed it in, and the fire in the room also went out. At the same time, the wind stopped abruptly.

"What the hell was that?" Detective Rover asked them, not sure of what he had seen.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," said Katie. "But I suspect both murders have just been solved."

Detective Rover looked as though he had seen a ghost, which, technically he had. "What can you possibly say to make me understand this?"

Katie smiled somberly. "We can tell you what went down," she said, "but you won't be able to put it in your report."

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," he said. "But lay it on me, I'll settle for knowing the answers myself. I'll sleep better at night."

"Well then," said Katie, "here are the facts. Last year Mrs. Hanson killed her husband. Our guess is she had an accomplice who actually did the murder, but she planned it. Unbeknownst to her, her husband's ghost was still hanging around, becoming a vengeful spirit over time. When she came home, he killed her. What you saw was us putting his spirit to rest."

"Right," he said after a moment's hesitation. "Can't put that in my report… You two aren't FBI are you?"

"We are," said Katie winking. "When we need to be."

Katie went to a desk in the room and found some paper and a pen. She wrote a few lines, found an envelope, and sealed it. She took it over to the detective and said, "You may get a visit from two more of our colleagues. If you do, would you hand them this? And feel free to answer any questions for them."

Detective Rover took the envelope and smiled. "Happy to help," he said.

* * *

Four hours later, Sam and Dean arrived at the police department in their FBI personas, and asked for the detective in charge of the Hansen murder. They were directed to Detective Rover, who by this time was back from the crime scene and trying to figure out how to write up his report.

"Detective Rover?" Dean said as they walked up to his desk flashing their badges. "I'm agent Morrow and this is Agent Smith. We'd like to talk about the Hansen case with you."

"Ah, they said you might come. Here, I have something for you," he said," handing Dean an envelope. "Can we go outside to talk? It's more private and I need some air."

When they got outside Dean opened the letter. It said, "We solved it. Can you?... P.S. Why did you steal a car? Kind of silly with all that money lying around!"

"Son-of-a-bitch," Dean muttered and handed the paper to Sam, who only laughed when he read it.

"Dean, you really need to lighten up and just play the game."

"Fine, whatever," Dean said. Turning to the detective he asked, "So what can you tell us about the case?"

"You wanna know what I saw with my own eyes or something I have to lie about for my report because no one will believe it, and I'll get laughed out of the force?" he asked with a bit of cynicism.

"Tell us what you really saw," Sam answered. "We promise we'll believe it."

"Yeah and we won't even laugh." Dean added.

"Okay well, your colleagues showed up," he said with a wink, "And they started looking around the place. After an hour or so, I hear this funky noise, and like a tornado going on upstairs. One of them was holding a book, a scrapbook I think, with pictures and stuff in it. She pulled something out of it, looked like locks of hair. The wind looked like it was deliberately trying to pull the book out of her hand. Then they got a lighter and tried to burn the stuff, and the wind, it really tried hard not to let them. But they managed and then…"

"Go on," Sam said gently.

"Well, when the hair burned, there was this terrible screaming, and then a fire popped up in the middle of the room, looking for all the world like a person burning. When it went out the wind stopped. The girls said it was a ghost, a vengeful spirit."

"Can we see that book the girls had?" Sam asked.

"Sure," the detective answered. "Here's the key, knock yourself out. Leave it in the mailbox. And fellas, if you can give me a logical explanation for all that that I can actually put in my report, I'd sure appreciate it."

"Sorry Dude, logical explanations aren't in our playbook," Dean responded.

At the crime scene, the boys took a look at the wreckage in the room and the burnt spot on the hardwood floor. The scrapbook told them all they needed to know. Two locks of hair had been definitely pulled from the book." They must have burned hers too, for good measure," said Sam.

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," Dean said.

"Right on," said Sam. "Hey Dean, you ever think how much easier our job would be if they just cremated everyone?"

Dean shrugged. "Now there's a thought," he said.

"Well, they caught an easy one this time, but now it's back to the drawing board. We need to figure out where they went next."

"And how they knew we stole a car," Dean added.

"They probably have someone keeping tabs on us Dean."

"Well that's creepy," Dean said.

"But smart. They know where we are in case they really get into trouble. Looks like they have a plan B, Dean. Working smart is part of being a hunter, and they work way smarter than we do."

"I'll give them that," Dean said. "If they really do have someone watching us, they're good too. Because I never spotted it."

When they got back to the car, there was a note under the windshield wiper. It said, "Good job finding us this time. Caught an easy one didn't we? Wonder where we'll go next? Oh BTW your car is in the parking garage at 7th and Main. This will be so much more fun when we can all work together, won't it? Love you, Miss you."

Once again Sam chuckled. Dean, well Dean was nothing if not predictable. "Son-of-a-bitch" he said. "Let's go get my goddamn car!"

* * *

Dear Readers,

My apologies for taking so long to get this chapter out. As some of you may know, I got attacked by several short stories that just needed to be written, as well as another that started out to be a short story, but has taken a turn to longer. Also, I have just been hired to ghost write a novel, which is very exciting for me, but it probably means that chapters for both this story and Soul Searching will come a bit slower than they did for Warping. But I promise you I will not stop writing them. I've also got one more short story to post. Several of you have asked me for a Demon Dean story, so I did one. It's very dark, so I've been hesitant to post it, but several people have read it and are urging me to post it, so watch for it sometime soon.

SamGirl27


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Clues**

"How mad do you think they are?" Maggie asked her sister.

Katie gave it some thought and said, "I don't think they are mad, not really." She looked out the window at the golden fields of wheat they were passing through. "Dean's probably acting like it, being a bitch to Sam. But really, he's just scared. You know how he is, thinks it's his job to keep everyone he loves safe. Makes him cranky. Not being in control makes him frustrated, and he shows that as anger. And Sam, I'm sure he's scared too, a little. But I think he has more faith in us. He's got his hands full just handling Dean."

"I miss them. I wish we didn't have to do it this way." Maggie said.

"I know, me too. But you were there Mags, he wasn't budging, not even an inch. He has to be willing to accept us as people in our own right and not just as an extension of them. He has to let us make our own decisions. We've been over and over this."

"I know, Katie," Maggie exclaimed loudly. "I know," she said again, a little more gently. "I just wish it could be different that's all." She looked down at the ring on her finger, the one Dean had brought back for her from the other world. The magical ring that changed its appearance depending on how healthy their relationship was at the moment. Her colors were showing darker than usual, more drab, like they were mixed with smoke. "How's your ring looking?" she asked her sister.

Katie looked at her own ring and compared it to Maggie's. "Not as bad as yours, but still a bit dull looking," she said sadly. "But that's not surprising. We've just been discussing how Dean is probably taking this much harder than Sam is."

Maggie said nothing for several miles. Then she asked, "Where's the Impala now?"

Katie opened her laptop and called up the tracking program Maggie had written specifically for this. "It's stationary," she said. "Hang on a sec." After a minute or so she said, "Looks like they're at a Diner along Route 50." She laughed. "So typical of them, jumping the gun, getting out on the road and just driving, with no idea which way we went."

"Can we get there before they leave?"

"Probably, if you step on it," Katie answered. "Take the next right to meet up with 50."

* * *

Dean was fidgeting more than usual in the diner booth.

"Try to calm down Dean."

"Yeah calm down. Sure, calm down. Sam, what if they get themselves into something they can't get out of? I'm not saying they aren't smart, or capable. But how often have we gotten our own selves into a mess we needed help to get out of? Huh? How many times did we come this close," he asked, holding his thumb and forefinger smashed together, "and wouldn't have made it except for luck? Or someone rescuing us?"

"Yeah but Dean. Most of those times we got ourselves into trouble because we'd go in half cocked with no plan. They aren't like that. They think. They plan. And then they think about what to do when the plan fails, and they get a backup plan. They're smarter than we are Dean. Too smart to get into something they can't handle in the first place." Sam looked at Dean gently, trying to calm him down. "Do you really believe they'd try to do a job that was above their current ability? I don't. I think they know exactly what their abilities are, and their limitations. They're trying to prove a point, not get themselves killed. So all we have to do is learn to think like they are."

"Oh yeah that sounds fine, Sammy. But we have no idea where they went from there do we? And here we are just driving. We could be going in the opposite direction for all we know. So how is that thinking like them?"

"Which is exactly why I suggested we get a room and wait, Dean."

"Wait for what, Sam? Huh? You think they're just gonna call us up and tell us where they're off to next?"

"No of course not," Sam said with a smile. "Not that overtly anyway. But Dean, why do you think they gave us the Impala back?"

"So I wouldn't kill them when we finally found them?" Dean ventured.

Sam chuckled and said, "No Dean, think about it seriously. Think about it like they are."

Dean tried to think seriously. Then he glanced up at Sam with his sideways look and frowned. "To make it harder for us, because now we don't know what they're driving?" he said.

Sam scrunched his lips and shrugged. "Maybe, that could be part of it. But keep thinking," Sam said, attacking his Chunky Chicken salad with gusto. "You're getting warmer."

Dean took a bite of his bacon cheeseburger and began chewing. Then the light went on. "Son-of-a-bitch," he said with his mouth full.

"Uh huh," Sam said, grinning widely at his brother. "I think you've got it. They did it so THEY could keep track of US!"

Dean finished chewing and swallowed. "They bugged the damn car," he said. "We have to find it," he added.

"No, Dean, we don't," said Sam, gently. "You didn't think it all the way through. Remember, think like they are, not like you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Dean asked.

"Don't get your boxers in a bunch Dean, it's not a put down. We're thinking like they are remember? Ask yourself this. Why would they want to keep tabs on us? We're the ones looking for them, not the other way around."

"So they'd know how to avoid us?" he asked tentatively.

"That's still you thinking, try again."

Dean tried again. "I got nuthin" he said, swallowing his last bite of burger.

"We're their backup plan, Dean. They want us close and accessible in case they need us. They want to know where we are in case they really do need to get in touch. And we are NOT going to mess with that plan."

Dean stared at his little brother. "Son-of-a-bitch," he said again, really quietly.

When the boys got back to the Impala, there was an envelope under the windshield wiper. Dean snagged it while he looked around, hoping but not really expecting to find the girls in the lot or taking off down the road. He opened the envelope to find only a flash drive inside.

"Here, check this out," he said to Sam as they got in the car. Sam whipped out his laptop and plugged in the flash. It had one MP4 video file on it. Sam clicked to open it…

The girls were both on the screen, obviously in a motel room, both grinning widely. While the boys watched the video, part of their minds were combing for clues.

"Hi Sammy," said Katie.

"Hi Dean," said Maggie. " I know you're looking around about now, but don't bother, we're already gone. But it's alright, you just keep on holdin' on, and soon we'll be together again. But I do miss you. I wish I could have just one hour in the shower with you. Boy, that would really make me smile. But, that will have to wait until we're together again. Katie, back to you."

"Hey Sammy baby," Katie said, taking over the narrative. "I really do miss you. I know you must be wondering where do we go from here, and why can't we just all work together? We've been wondering that too. We've also been wondering what does it take to make you guys see our sides of it? But remember this, every minute of every day, you are on my mind. Well, we need to take off now so, till we meet again."

Both girls blew kisses and the video ended.

The boys stared motionless at the screen for several long minutes, and then Dean burst out laughing for the first time during this trip.

"What?" Sam asked.

"You were right about the clue, little brother," he said grinning, as he started the car and headed out on the road. "They just told us where they're going."

Sam glanced at the screen and then back to his brother, frowning, his look asking the question for him.

"Chicago, Sammy, they're going to Chicago," he said, seeming to get into the spirit of the game for the first time. "I'm surprised at you, little brother. You should have picked up on that much sooner than I did."

Sam replayed the video. "Son-of-a-bitch," he said quietly, as he realized the dialog was filled with the titles of Chicago songs.

"Okay, Sammy, see if you can figure out why they're going to Chicago," Dean told his brother.

Sam spent about thirty minutes or so looking through Chicago papers, when he ran into a piece from four days before. "Oh no," he whispered. "Please don't tell me this is what they're doing!"

"What, Sammy, what'd you find?"

"A bunch of campers have gone missing from several camping areas along the lake over the last eight months. The last one was this past weekend. The cops are thinking serial killer."

"Well, maybe it is," Dean said.

Sam continued. "The few witnesses they've been able to question all say they heard their companions scream horrible screams, then go dead quiet. No traces of anything or anyone were found. No tracks, no clues, no nothing. One of the witnesses is in a mental ward. She keeps saying her husband was taken by an invisible monster."

Dean glared at Sam, and yelled. "I thought you said they'd be too smart to go after something like this."

"And I still think they are, Dean. Maybe this isn't what they went for. Maybe there's something else going on up there."

"Well find it then," Dean snapped. "And hurry. Meanwhile, we'd better go gank ourselves a goddamn wendigo before they try to. Goddamnit! Fucking son-of-a-bitch!" Dean exclaimed, hitting his hand on the steering wheel for emphasis.

"Calm down, Dean, please," Sam said, but even he was looking a bit worried now. "We can't do them any good if you get us killed on the way there.

"I am calm," Dean yelled, obviously anything but calm. "This is me, being calm," he yelled angrily, as he cranked up the speedometer way over the speed limit.

Sam watched his brother for a long time, and then he asked softly, "Is this how you acted in the past when you were really worried about me?"

Dean glared at him. Finally he answered tartly. "No, I couldn't let you see it in me. But yeah, this is how I felt."

Sam sighed softly and said, "I'm sorry, Dean, I never knew."

* * *

So what ARE we doing in Chicago?" Maggie asked, as she drove up the ramp to I57. "You promised to tell me once we got on the way."

Katie read the article to her sister, who was looking majorly worried by the time she was finished. "Are you kidding me?" she asked excitedly. "Katie, that sounds like a..."

"Wendigo, yes I know that," Katie said calmly.

"Are you out of your mind?" Maggie asked her sister, thinking she really must have flipped. "We cannot kill a wendigo, Katie!"

"I know that," Katie responded. "At least not by ourselves. That's why we're leading the boys there."

Maggie took a deep breath. "Damn, girl, you almost gave me a heart attack."

Katie smiled at her sister. "No worries, big sister, I haven't spilled my marbles." She looked thoughtfully down at her screen. "But this monster is in need of ganking, and we know the guys who can do it. So this will be us, showing them we know perfectly well that we can't handle this one. Part of their lesson right? Showing them we know how to stay out of trouble just as well as how to get into it?"

Maggie had to smile at that one, "Right on, little sis, right on," she said smiling.

* * *

Sam and Dean walked into the ranger station in their FBI getups and introduced themselves.

"You here about the disappearances?" he asked them grimly.

"We are," said Sam. "We're supposed to be meeting up with another team, wondering if they've been here yet. Look alike sisters, about yay high, he said, placing his hand at about chest level.

The ranger grimaced and shook his head. "Haven't seem 'em yet," he said. "So what can I do for you two?"

The brothers exchanged glances, and Dean asked, "What can you tell us about the disappearances?"

The ranger looked around him conspiratorially and asked, "You want the official position, or you wanna know what I think?"

The boys once again exchanged glances, and Dean said, How bout we start with your version."

The ranger lowered his voice to a whisper. "I think they were abducted," he said with a curt nod.

Sam looked curious. "Ab… abducted?" he asked.

"Yeah you know," the ranger said. "The truth is out there."

"What's your reason for thinking aliens, as opposed to say, monsters? Didn't one of the witnesses swear it was some kind of monster?"

The ranger scoffed. "Oh come on," he said. "Everyone knows there's no such thing as monsters." He leaned in closer to the boys. "Now aliens on the other hand, plenty of proof of aliens. So what else could it be? No traces left behind? Nothing?" he said and hummed the theme song from X-Files.

"You know," Sam said with a mischievous smile, "the X-Files were about monsters too, not just aliens."

"Yeah," said the ranger, as he stood back again. "But that was a just a TV show. This is reality."

Sam chuckled, and Dean asked for a list of witnesses and their contact information. As they walked away Dean asked Sam, "So what do you think?"

Sam chuckled again, and said, "I think one man's aliens are another man's wendigoes."

"Yeah, thank you Captain Obvious," Dean said sarcastically. "I mean what do you think about the girls not being here?"

"Well, this would be where they'd come, so maybe this isn't what they're chasing."

"Or we beat them here," Dean said.

Sam considered that and said, "That's less likely. I think if they were coming here, they'd have been here by now."

"You don't suppose they'd go right out and set up a camp site do you?" Dean asked, his brow wrinkled with worry once again.

"No, Dean I don't. That sounds more like something we'd do. It's possible though, that they got the witness list without coming here."

"Hmm, okay so who do we see first then?"

"I'm thinking maybe the one in the psych ward isn't so psycho," he answered tightly.

"Let's go then," Dean said, stalking off to the car.

* * *

"There they go," said Maggie, "just like you said they would."

"We know our boys Mags."

The girls were sitting in their rented Torino, watching their guys walk into the hospital entrance, and they sat back to wait for them to come out again.

"Dean looked steaming," Maggie said sadly. "How long are we gonna keep this up?" she asked her sister.

"Till they find us, or till it's obvious they aren't going to." She shrugged. "Hopefully not much longer. Why? Fun wearing off for you?"

Maggie considered that question. "No not really. But it would be more fun if we were all together. I miss Dean."

Katie looked out the window and sighed. "Yeah, I miss Sam too. A lot. Wouldn't it be nice if we could call a one night truce?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh that would be heavenly. But do you really think they would let us go out again?"

Katie had to chuckle at that one. "Well, they would if they've learned their lesson," she said. "In which case, we wouldn't really have to go back out, would we?"

Maggie laughed too, but asked seriously, "And if they haven't?"

Katie sighed heavily. "Well, then I guess we'd have to do this all over again."

"That would be less fun."

"Well, hopefully Sam's been working on Dean some."

"Ya know, it might not just be Dean that's being hard-headed about this."

Katie stared at her sister. "Yeah and pigs fly," she said. "Hey, here they come, duck."

The boys came back out of the hospital with Dean wearing his sullen face. "Well, at least he doesn't look pissed," Katie said.

"Thank god for that," Maggie said. "I don't think I can take much more of seeing him like that. It was easier when we weren't keeping them in sight."

"What are they doing just sitting there?" Maggie asked.

"Reading the note again, it looks like," said Katie, unable to help smiling. When their car pulled out of the slot, she added, "Okay, let's go. Keep out of their sight."

"I know how to tail, Katie," Maggie said irritably. Looked like things were beginning to get to the girls too.

* * *

When they had gotten to the car Dean said, "Let me see that damn note again, and he snatched it out of Sam's hand. He took out his phone and keyed in the number. "You do it too," he said, handing the note back.

"Already done," he said. He opened the note, smiling sardonically as he reread it. "Put this number on speed dial," it said, listing one of their throw away numbers. "Use it if only if you need our help, but if you do need out help don't be stupid. Ask for it. Looks like you caught yourselves a case. You didn't really think we would be stupid enough to tackle this one ourselves did you?" He chuckled as he put the note in his pocket.

"Okay," said Dean, "go ahead and say I told you so."

"Nah," he said. "That would just come around and bite me in the ass next time I'm wrong."

Dean glanced over at his brother in surprise. "Looks like maybe we're both learning things huh?"

"Dean, I've been thinking."

"What?"

"It really is more fun when they're involved. Maybe we can use that number to call a truce, start working together."

"What? And get our asses reamed?" Dean actually looked scared.

Sam laughed at his brother. "I don't really think we will if we're surrendering." Sam watched the trees fly by outside his window. "And I miss them, Dean. This has been fun, but I miss them."

"I know," Dean said softly. "I miss them too."

The witness they had talked to told them all they needed to know. This was definitely a wendigo. Sam had charted all the abduction sites and they made a good guess as to the creature's hunting grounds. There was only one cave in the area large enough to be it's habitat, and now they were on their way to a sporting goods store to buy enough camping equipment to look like legitimate campers.

When they pulled out of the mall parking lot and get back on the highway, Sam said, "They're tailing us."

"I know," Dean said. "As long as they're behind us and in my sights, I'm okay with that."

Sam smiled and watched his side mirror all the way to the park. But when they had parked and were getting out their gear, Sam looked around and said, "Dean, I've lost them."

"Me too," said Dean. "But they aren't far. They're our back up, remember. We might not see them, but I guaran-damn-tee they have us in their sights. I guess they're getting through to me. I'm actually trusting them to have our backs. Let's go."

**To be continued...**


	4. Chapter 4

The girls followed along the coastline looking for the boys, staying out of site behind the trees. Maggie spotted them first. "There they are," she said, pointing. "This looks to be about a quarter mile from the cave.

Katie looked up at the darkening sky. "You think they'll go at night?" She asked.

"I wouldn't but who knows. We'll just have to watch them and see. We can sleep in shifts," Maggie said. She spread out the tarp they had brought, which was all the attention they had given toward looking like campers. It was more to protect themselves from the crawling beasties that covered the ground. They had their flare guns and lighters at the ready.

Maggie took first watch while Katie caught a little nap. She watched the love of her life as he and Sam wandered up and down the coast making sure everyone nearby was safe. They didn't look like they were planning on checking out the cave in darkness, which was both good and bad. Good, because it was more dangerous at night. The wendigo was more likely to be awake then. Bad, because if anyone that had been taken happened to still be alive, the sooner they got in there the better.

As she watched Dean, her heart ached for him. It was time to stop this nonsense. She looked at her ring in the faint light the moon was giving off and to her surprise it looked a little brighter. Maybe that meant Dean was feeling better too? She really hoped so. She wanted to end this soon. It was fun at first, and she still felt they were right to do it. But now she wanted her man. She'd had to be without him for several months when they went to the other world. And now she was missing him again.

Her thoughts followed this pattern for a few hours, until she woke Katie to take her turn at watch. As usual the last thing she thought of as she lay down to sleep was Dean.

Katie, too, watched the boys with thoughts swimming in her head. It was all she could do to keep herself from running into Sam's arms when he went into the shadows of the trees to pee. He couldn't have been more than 15 yards from her. She watched him in silhouette as he looked around him like he was perhaps looking for them.

She decided to talk to Maggie about calling a truce, no matter what happened with this case. Sam was the love of her life, and if they really had to give up their desire to be hunters, well, so be it. There were priorities after all.

Meanwhile, the boys were having their own thoughts. Dean, who had been only half-asleep when Sam came back from taking a leak, asked, "Any sight of them?"

"I think they're right behind us in the trees," he said, "but I can't be sure." He sat down on a small log that had been placed there for campers to use. "Dean, can we stop this? If it's so important to them to be hunters, can't we find a way to make it work? I really wanna run out there and find them and bring them here. Being away from Katie is tearing me up."

Dean was quiet for a time, and then he sat up and looked at his brother. "I hate to admit it, but they've won. I can't keep doing this either. I want my woman. I feel better when she's around, and I know she helps me handle this thing," he said, patting the mark of Cain on his arm. I know I'm overbearing when it comes to those I love. I'd put them all in cages if I had to, to keep them safe. But the girls are right, they deserve to live their own lives."

"Should we go get them?" Sam asked, a bit in awe of the feelings Dean had just expressed, something that didn't come easily to his brother. Although, Maggie was having that kind of affect on Dean.

Dean thought about that for a moment and then shook his head, "No," he answered. "Let's see how this plays out. I'd still rather not involve them in this if it's not necessary. We'll get them when this is finished"

Sam nodded, thankful that in a few hours he could hold his Katie in his arms again.

Dean got up to take care of his own call of nature and Sam's thoughts were all of Katie. When he realized that Dean was taking a bit too long for what he went to do, he got up and called his name. "Dean," he shouted. There was no answer. "Dean," he called again, panicky now and moving closer to the tree line. "Dean," he shouted a third time. Still no answer.

Katie shook her sister. "Something's going on, wake up." Maggie jumped up totally alert, as she heard Sam shouting for Dean over and over. They picked up their flame throwers, held their lighters in their other hand at the ready and went to meet up with Sam.

Meanwhile, Sam's calls for Dean were getting fainter as he ran closer to the cave looking for Dean. "It must have Dean," Maggie said, worried but keeping it together. "Come on, hurry!"

They ran out onto the beach, following Sam's foot steps in the sand. They led all the way to the cave. When they entered the cave they lit their flare guns. The cave had two paths. "Damn it!" Maggie said. "Sam went that way, so let's try this way," she said, indicating the right fork. The cave tunneled for quite a ways meandering back and forth around curves.

Then they heard a growl. "Get behind me," Maggie told her sister, and they turned off the flames. They hugged the cave wall for a few more yards until they could see a cavern open up ahead of them. It seemed to have a slight glow, as if lit by a fire. Maggie peered around the edge of the wall and gasped. The creature had Dean, who was unconscious, and was stringing him up with a rope. She backed against the cave wall and whispered, "He's got Dean, stringing him up."

"We can take him," Katie whispered back.

Maggie nodded, and they both relit their flame throwers. The creature sensed something and turned around. He saw the flames and growled, trying to back away. Using a technique they used during their gang days, Maggie went forward towards the creature while Katie held the entrance to the cavern, preventing escape.

Feeling trapped the creature growled and ran past Maggie so fast it was invisible, but it couldn't get past Katie without getting too close to the flames. Recognizing their chance, both girls began to close in, Maggie moving a bit faster to push it towards Katie. When it got close enough, Katie pulled a flask of gasoline from her jacket, opened it with her teeth and threw the contents at the wendigo. Then they both closed in and lit it on fire.

In the distance they could hear Sam still yelling for Dean, his cries sounding closer. By the time he reached them, the wendigo was engulfed in flames and thrashing about in agony. Soon it collapsed to the ground and the awful sounds stopped. Sam grabbed Katie and pulled her to himself, holding her tightly.

"Sam," she said. "Dean's in there strung up." Sam ran to help his brother, but Maggie was already cutting through the ropes. Sam held onto Dean so he could lower him to the to the ground more gently. He slapped at his face, and Dean moaned.

"You awake?" he asked his brother. Dean opened his eyes and said, "Why do you look like Maggie? Am I dreaming?"

Maggie threw herself down on top of Dean, and said "No, silly, Katie and I just rescued you. It's really me."

Dean kissed Maggie and held her close as he looked past her shoulder and found Sam smiling down at him, his arm around Katie. His eyes asked a question and Sam nodded, saying, "Yep, they sure did."

"Well where the hell were you?" Dean asked, accusingly.

"I was busy with the other Wendigo," he answered.

"There were two of them?" Dean asked.

"Yep."

Dean sat up and said, "What about survivors? Are there any?"

"Don't know yet, we need to look."

Dean stood up, a bit unsteadily, and the four of them searched the cave. They found several more caverns and a total of four people, three of whom were dead. The fourth was still alive, though barely. It was the last camper that had been taken.

They cleared the webbing from him and laid him gently on the ground, while Katie called 911. Then they took off.

"What will the cops think?" Katie asked.

"They'll make up some story that they can live with like they always do," Dean said. "Come on, let's get out of here."

They stood at their cars holding onto each other as the police and emergency vehicles arrived at the scene.

Dean swallowed hard before saying what he had to say. "Look girls, I still don't like it," he said. "But you have proven yourselves, and you're right that it's not right to tell you what to do, or to keep you from doing what you want. We'll work it out somehow."

Katie looked over to him and said, "Well we learned something too," she said. "We do want to hunt, but it's not worth being away from you guys. We can find a way to do it so we don't worry you too much and still feel the satisfaction we're looking for."

Sam and Dean exchanged glances, and Dean said, "Come on, let's go home."

"What about your car?" Sam asked the girls.

"We can have the rental company come pick it up," Maggie said.

"Works for me," Dean said as he opened the door for Maggie to get in. When they were all in the car, he looked at both girls. "Let's not do that again, okay?"

"Just take us home, Jeeves," said Katie.

To Be Continued...

-

Dear readers,

I am sorry for the delay in getting a new chapter out to you. Several weeks ago I hurt my back, and have been in too much pain to write. I'm feeling better now, so here is a new chapter for you. It's a bit short, but it ends a section. Never fear though, the story isn't finished, and I hope to get my chapters out more quickly now. If you're also reading Soul Searching, I should have another chapter fort that one up today or tomorrow as well.

If I don't write again before the holidays, then I wish you blessings, whatever your faith. Be happy! Be safe!

Kat 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 - Together Again

* * *

**Dean and Maggie**

When the door closed behind him, Dean leaned against it with his hands behind his ass, and just stared at his woman. "I don't know what to say," he said. "I don't know what to do either."

Maggie looked at him with concern. "You're angry," she said in surprise, and she let herself fall back onto the bedroom chair.

"Yes! No!... To tell the truth I don't know what I am." He wiped his hand over his face, and went over and sat on the bed, facing her. "I know I was terrified. I know that all I could think about was how if I lost you I…" He swallowed several times, and tears welled in his eyes. "I wouldn't want to live anymore, Maggie. God knows I've lost so many people I've loved, and I've always been able to pick myself up and go on. Even when Sam…" Again he swallowed hard. "Even then, I did what he asked and I kept on living. Well, existing maybe. I had Lisa and that helped."

He looked at her then, tears plainly visible on his face. "But dammit Maggie, please, I'm begging you, please don't ever do that to me again. Because if I lose you, I'm done. I get what you did and why you did it. I get it. Lesson learned. Maybe more lesson than you thought you were teaching. I learned that I can't live without you. I can't. I won't."

Maggie just stared back at him, tears also running down her face now. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I never meant to put you through all that."

"I know you didn't," he said. "And I know I need to loosen up the reigns, not just on you but on everyone. God knows me and Sam's been butting heads over that very thing for years." He looked down at the floor and back up to her eyes. "You know it's always seemed like my job to keep everyone safe. I guess I went too far with that, thinking if I just kept you all tucked in here nice and safe, then I was doing my job. And in the beginning, when none of us could go out, well that made it easier to feel like that was the way to do it, ya know?. It never occurred to me what that would mean for you. And for that I'm sorry."

Maggie jumped up and knelt down on the floor beside him, She covered his hands with hers and said, "I guess maybe we both had lessons to learn. I also know I never want to be without you again, ever! But baby, we can't assure ourselves of not losing each other by not living our lives."

"I know," he said, as he wiped his face of the tears and sniffled. "I know that. It's just so damn hard, ya know. The worry all the time."

"Yes, I do know," she said smiling. "We had our own dose of that when you guys were gone for weeks. But we can't keep you locked up in here any more than you can keep us. That's not living. And that's not loving. That's possessing."

"I get that now. I do." He chuckled a bit. "It may surprise you to know we were ready to deal five minutes before we discovered you were gone."

"Really?" she said smiling. "Guess we jumped the gun, then huh?"

"It's okay," he said. "I think maybe I needed this slap in the face, you know, to get my attention."

Maggie laughed. "You know, our dad always told our mom that if she needed to get through to him about something, she had to hit him over the head with a two by four first, just to get his attention."

"Guess that was your two by four huh?" he said. He reached down and pulled her up to straddle his lap and he kissed her. Long, lovingly, tenderly. "Let's not do that to each other again, okay?" he said softly.

"I promise," she said.

He kissed her then, long, slow, loving kisses that told her just how much he loved her. Then he gently pushed her away. "There's more," he said. "There's more you need to know."

She looked at him, the concern written all over her face. "Dean? What is it? What more is there?"

He picked her up and moved her over to sit on the bed, and stood up. She watched as he walked away, which she knew he did whenever he was trying to think of what to say. Finally, he turned back to her, raised his sleeve to show the mark of Cain and said, "It's this… this goddamn mark." He stopped for a moment as she noted the pain and fear on his face.

"You know I turned into a demon on the other world."

She nodded. "Yes, but…"

"Wait," he said stopping her. "Let me get this out." Once again he wiped his face with his hand. "I remember everything that happened then. How I felt, or didn't feel, really. And what I did. Everything I did. I was a monster, the monster I hate the most, and I became it. Maggie, I… I can't be that again, I just can't. I didn't care about anyone, even myself really. I didn't care about Sam, was even willing to kill him. Probably would have if he hadn't been smart enough to stay away from me. I didn't care about you. I told Sam to tell you I was dead."

Maggie wanted so much to tell him it was okay, that she understood. But she knew him well enough to know that he had to say what was on his mind, so she remained quiet and waited.

"We left the blade on the other world, thinking, hoping that would stop anything like that from happening here." He stopped and looked at her, a tear falling down his cheek. "But this thing," he said, hitting the mark on his arm, "this curse, it's still affecting me, urging me to kill, to find the blade again. And when I'm away from you, it's worse. While we were looking for you, I had even less patience than usual. I was more angry, more intolerant…"

He knelt down on the floor in front of Maggie, and covered her hands with his. Tears were streaming down her face as she looked at him. "The truth is, I'm a better person when you're around. I'm more human. I need you to keep me that way, at least until we find a way to deal with this mark. Because I won't become that thing again, I won't." He looked at her pleadingly.

She took his face in her hands. "I'm so sorry, baby, it never occurred to me that anything like that was going on with you. I promise you, I will never leave your side if that's what it takes. And we WILL figure this mark thing out. I love you so much that sometimes it hurts. You are my life. I don't have a mark trying to make me into a monster. But I AM a better person with you than without you. You DID already save my life. You DID already pull me out of a bad place. So, yes, I understand!"

Dean got up off his knees and pulled her to him. "I love you," he whispered over and over between kisses, the tears from both their cheeks mixing together. Soon the passion hit and they both began tearing at each other's clothing. Dean picked Maggie up and threw her on the bed, landing on top of her. Everything that needed to be said had been said. Now it was time to express their love in a more visceral fashion.

"You bring out the animal in me," he said, his breath raspy with passion.

"Mmm," she answered, which was all she could do, considering his mouth was pressed to hers. "In fact," he said, again punctuating his words with kisses, on her lips, on her neck, on her breasts, "you bring out the primitive in me."

"Mmm," she mumbled again, just basking in the glory of his luscious lips all over her, her hands holding his head, pulling him closer to her, not that that was really possible.

He stopped kissing her for a moment and looked into her eyes. "You wanna know what you do to me, really?"

"Uh huh," she answered, wishing he'd just go on with what he'd started already. "You know those cave man cartoons where the cave man knocks the woman over the head with a club and drags her away by the hair?"

"You want to knock me over the head with a club and drag me away by my hair?" she asked him, amused.

"Of course not, we're more civilized than that now. But that's how I want to possess you."

"You can possess me all you want in this room, baby."

"That's not what I mean."

He grabbed her wrists in both his hands and pulled them away from her sides, holding them tight. "Go ahead," he said. "Try to get away."

"I don't want to get away," she said.

"I know, and I love that. But try anyway."

"I can't," she said, making a half-hearted effort. "You're too strong, and you're on top of me. I can barely move."

"Oh come on, I know you can fight better than that. I want you to do everything you can to get away, try with all your heart. Give it all you've got."

'Okay,' she thought, 'I can get into this game.' So she rocked back and forth, trying to move him off her. She tried bending her knees and pushing but she didn't want to actually hurt him.

"Keep going," he said. "Don't worry about me."

Again she tried, giving it all she could for several minutes. He gave out a few grunts, which told her she'd probably at least bruised him, but no matter how hard she fought, she couldn't dislodge him. "I can't do it," she said. "Not with you on top of me anyway."

"Okay," he said, "let's change that," and he rolled them over, putting her on top and wrapping his legs around her. "Try now."

Again she tried. She struggled until she was weak with the effort. "I can't" she said, laughing. "I give. You're holding me way too tight."

"That's the point," he said, rolling them over so he was on top again. "Consider this a metaphor of how tightly I hold you, even when you aren't with me. I will never let you go. I may have to give you space, I get that. But this, this is how you will always be for me, held so tightly you can't get away."

He kissed her then, picking up where he had left off, covering every inch of her upper body until she was pushing her hips at him, letting him know exactly what she wanted. He reached down between her legs and found it warm, swollen and moist, ready for him to enter her. He touched his hardness against her. "This want you want, baby?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yes… oh my god, yes," she answered, her own breath coming in labored spurts. "Go ahead, possess me. Be my cave man."

That was all it took to make him lose himself in the moment. He pushed into her hard, and she yelled out with delight. He began with a slow, sensual rhythm, gradually picking up the pace until he could tell they were both ready to explode. Then he stopped for a moment, which made her cry out for him to keep going. "Don't come!" he said, softly, yet still commandingly.

"What!?"

"Don't come," he said again. "Just hold onto it. Then he started the fast-paced rhythm again, and it was almost impossible for her to hold herself in, but she managed it, as she watched him throw back his head and grimace with the throes of his own orgasm. She felt his spray hitting the soft walls inside her.

When he was finished with his own, and was pulling out of her, she said," What…"

"Shhh," he answered her, putting his finger to his lips. "Just lay back and enjoy." Then he began kissing her again, her breasts, her stomach, moving farther down until she realized what he intended to do and she pulled in a gaspy breath.

He moved himself farther down into the space between her legs, pushing them farther open, and placing two fingers inside her. She was glistening with her own moisture and his mingling together, running down along the inside of her thighs. He spread her apart a bit with his fingers and then she felt his lips and his tongue on her, and her body shook with involuntary spasms.

As he worked on her, he found himself really getting into what he was doing. He had been a little afraid. This was something he had never done with any of the hundreds of women he'd bedded before. He wanted to have something new with her, something that was theirs alone. And the way she was moaning, and shaking it seemed like he'd made a great decision. This was heady stuff. Tasting himself along with her, or more accurately, the mere idea of it, had his head spinning.

Neither of them noticed but their rings were glowing a bright red. Maggie had lost all control, just basking in the sensual and emotional pleasure her lover was giving to her. No one else had ever done that after coming inside her, and it was an amazing experience. She wondered if it was the first time Dean had ever done this as well. She hoped so.

She lost count of how many times he had brought her right to the brink and then let her down again, only to repeat the process, until finally she found herself crying, and yelling for him to please let her come. He got up on his knees and pulled her up to his mouth again, this time letting her finish. When she did he took in all the juices he could get, both hers and his.

When she was finished shuddering with her orgasm, he let her down gently and crawled up over her again, kissing his way to her lips, and kissing away the tears on her face, tears he knew were from an almost unbearable pleasure. "Marry me," he said softly, lovingly.

Maggie was still trying to catch her breath, but she managed to say, "I already said yes."

"I know," he said. "But let's do it soon, okay. I don't want to wait any longer to make you mine."

She let out a chuckle. "I kind of think you just did," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him just as tightly as he was holding her.

They laid there like that for a wile, with his head resting between her breasts. "I've never done that before," he said. "That was just for you."

"It was mind-blowing," she said, feeling little aftershocks just from the memory. "And no one else ever did that for me either," she added. "Kind of amazing how two people with all the sexual experience we've both had could actually find something new to experience together." She ran her fingers through his hair. "Was that your version of being my cave man?"

She felt his smile against her chest. "Marry me," he said again.

* * *

**Sam and Katie**

As soon as the door closed behind them, Sam pulled Katie to him, lifting her up as she wrapped her legs around him. They held tightly to one another as they kissed for several long moments. When their lips broke apart Sam said, "I should put you over my knee and spank you for that."

"For kissing you?" she asked teasingly.

"You know what for," he said. Trying to sound stern.

"Go ahead, big boy," she said, her voice still teasing. "Just remember, I get even."

"Hm," he grunted, kissing her again.

"Anyway," she said, "I kind of thought at least you would have some fun with it all."

"Well, I might have, except I had to deal with Dean through it all, and he wasn't having fun."

She laughed. "Ohh, my poor baby. I guess I'll have to find some way to make it up to you."

"You bet you will," he said, as he set her down and began to undress her. "Let's start in the shower."

They had learned early on that shower sex was almost impossible for them, if not outright dangerous. But that never stopped them from fooling around, and by the time they were drying each other off, the mood was in full swing. As they kissed and held each other, slowly edging toward the bed, Katie gently guided them so that when they reached the bed, Sam had his back to it. She pushed him down on the bed and fell to her knees between his legs.

"Ohh, you want it that way do you?"

"Mm Hmm," she said, smiling up at him. "In fact, I want to try something totally different."

He grinned. "Really? And what might that be?"

She swallowed. She had rehearsed this scene in her mind so many times, and yet, now that it was actually happening, she was tongue tied. Or maybe it was stage fright. Sam was watching her curiously, wondering what was going on in her pretty little head. He realized she was having a bit of a hard time getting it out. She'd always been a little shy about sex, but slowly she was getting a bit more brazen. But now, he recognized that shyness that took her over sometimes, especially if they were doing something new.

He touched her chin gently and looked into her eyes. "It's okay, baby, don't be afraid. Anything you ever want to say or do between us will be welcomed by me. I love you, and I want to make love with you. Any way, every way. So go ahead, tell me what's cooking in that beautiful, but devious, little head of yours."

She bit her bottom lip, swallowed again, and nodded her resolve. She reached out and wrapped her hand around his cock, which immediately sent a thrill through her as it always did. And he moaned at her touch, which thrilled her even more. "I want to…"

Now Sam was both puzzled and curious. She was acting as though she wanted to do oral, which he absolutely loved. But that wasn't new, they'd done that many times, and it never made her shy before. He waited. He'd wait all night if he had to for her to feel comfortable enough to share her desires with him. Unbidden, the thoughts of how she'd been sexually abused for years entered his head, and he had to forcefully push them down, or he'd get angry and lose the mood.

"It's okay," he said again, his voice soft and gentle. "It's me, Sam, the one who loves you beyond all reason. You don't have to be afraid."

"Okay," she said, blowing out a breath. "I've rehearsed this and rehearsed this, and I thought it would be easier. But here goes…"

Again she bit her bottom lip and said, all in a long rush, "I want to take all of you in my mouth. You know, the throat sex thing. I would just have done it without talking about it, but I wanted you to know in case I fucked it up." She took in a long breath and blew it out.

Sam was pretty sure he'd heard right, but he really was shocked at what she said. He looked down at himself, already hard and yearning from her caresses. He looked at himself and then he looked at her. Then he looked at himself again and back to her. He paused a few long seconds and then he did the routine again. Finally, he said, "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, I don't think so. At least not about this."

"Katie, I love you for even thinking about doing this but," he stopped and looked down at himself again. He couldn't imagine her being able to do that. He couldn't imagine anyone being able to do that. "But I don't know, are you sure you want to try?"

"Yes. I've been reading about it. There's a method to it, and the trick is to control the gag reflex. It just takes practice. And I've been practicing already."

"On who?!" Sam exclaimed, his face turning dark.

Katie was totally amused by his outburst. "Well obviously, the only reasonable person to practice on would be Jared, considering he's probably the only other person I know who's as big as you."

Sam stared at her unblinking for what seemed like minutes, but really was only a few seconds. Then she broke into a wide grin, squeezed her hand tighter around his cock, and chuckled. "Don't be absurd. Of course I haven't been practicing on Jared. I haven't been practicing on any one, I've been practicing on a what." She shrugged in amusement. "Several whats actually."

Sam eased up and laughed at himself. It was just a visceral reaction. Of course Katie would never do such a thing. Blame it on the male instinct. "Okay then, on what?"

Now she grinned playfully, sensually. She lifted herself up higher and closed in on her target. "Oh I think there are some things a girl just needs to keep to herself."

"Oh you tease," he said grinning. "And by the way, what did you mean about Jared being the only person as big as me. I mean I know I'm big, I'd be daft not to notice that. But it never occurred to me that everyone else wasn't at least close."

Katie scoffed. "Not by a long shot. And why don't you know that? Haven't you been in shower rooms with other guys? Haven't you watched tons of porn?"

"Wellll," he said, drawing out the word. In shower rooms guys deliberately avert their eyes from that, and porn, well, I don't tend to watch the guys."

"Bullshit!' she said laughing. "I call bullshit! I doubt any of you would ever admit it openly, but you all look. You guys are all so hung up on your 'junk' that I find it impossible to believe you don't do some comparison looking."

Sam put his head back and laughed. "I plead the fifth.

"Well just to set the record straight. You are the biggest that I, personally, have ever been with. And I still want to do this." Then she wrapped her mouth around the head of his cock and began swirling her tongue, and there was nothing else in Sam's head anymore but the sensation of pleasure.

She began as she always did, alternately taking him into her mouth, and then letting him go to lick him all over. He moaned with pleasure as he leaned back onto his elbows, closed his eyes and tilted his head back. "Oh, baby, you know what that does to me."

"Mm hmm," she said, which was all she could manage with her mouth full. Now that she had gotten through the preliminary part of telling him what she had planned, her shyness and discomfort had disappeared, and her sensuality took over. She knew exactly where to use her tongue on him, where and how to touch him. He was a moaner, so it was easy to learn his pleasure spots.

She was adept at taking him right to the edge and then backing off, letting him wind down some, and then doing it all again. Eventually he would be begging for her to finish it, that he couldn't take anymore. But this time she didn't want to get to that point yet. "Sam," she whispered, her mouth still against him.

"Hmm," he moaned softly.

"I'm gonna try now. Promise you won't laugh if it doesn't work out."

He smiled sweetly and whispered back, "I promise."

She licked him some more, and sometimes she kissed him, letting him know she loved every bit of him. "If I tap you twice like this," she demonstrated for him, "it means I want you to push, okay? I might need you to do that."

"Okay," he said quietly. But then what she'd said registered. "I don't wanna hurt you," he managed to say.

"You won't I promise. I'm in control here. If I need you to do that, I'll be ready for it."

"Okay," he said again. He was far in thrall and it was hard for him to have a conversation at all.

Katie got back into it again, thrilled by his moans, thrilled by the little jerks his legs and his body sometimes did. She loved pleasing him. She loved taking him to the heights. He was first man she'd ever felt that way about. Dozens of men had had sex with her. But never did she want to please them like she wanted to please Sam.

When she felt ready she positioned herself the way she had studied about. It was harder to do when the object she was working on was attached to a body. She had to ask him to sit up a little higher and he moved from leaning on his elbows to leaning on his hands. That seemed like it would work. She licked her hand several times to make him wet, and slowly moved herself farther onto him.

When he felt the tip of him push against something solid he let out a noise. It wasn't so much a moan as a yelp. Again she started moving closer, taking him in more and more. She was able to control the gag reflex, which thrilled her no end. She had him inside her about three-quarters of the way, but there were several more inches to go, and she was determined to do it.

She grabbed onto his hips to steady herself and keep herself at the right angle. Her head was spinning with euphoria. This was amazing, even from her side of it.

Sam was lost to the pleasure, his own head light and spinning. He was no longer moaning with his usual soft and sensuous moans. He was louder, with a tremble in his breathing. "Oh my god," he said several times. "What the hell are you doing to me?" was something else he managed to stutter.

Katie got herself ready and tapped his hip twice. Sam just kept moaning so she did it again. No response. Well, not the one she was trying to get anyway. She was getting plenty of response. She slapped his hip harder, and this time it registered.

"Okay," he managed to breath out. It took a few seconds for his brain to catch on and make him move forward like she had asked him to.

When she felt him start to push, she pushed against him and the rest of him slid in. Her lips were against his groin. "Oh! Fuck!" he yelled,. "Jesus Christ!"

His body was trembling uncontrollably now, and his moans began to run together, only stopping when he needed to take a breath. Now Katie began to move, only slightly, only enough for him to feel the movement. This wasn't something you could do vigorously. At least, she didn't think she could. But the slow movement was driving him higher and higher, and he was constantly yelling words like Fuck, Jesus Christ, Oh my God, and finally, when she felt the tremors in her mouth and throat that indicated he was just about there, she pushed herself onto him and moaned.

When he came it was pure ecstasy. Both of them were swept away on a tide of pure unadulterated pleasure. Sam screamed out, Katie moaned over and over until finally Sam was satiated. Katie began slowly backing herself off of him and even that sent aftershocks of pleasure through him that made him cry out. When she finally got to the end, she gave the tip of him a loving kiss, and finally let go of him.

She looked up at him with love, her expression still hot and sensual. He reached down and picked her up, and noted that she had tears in her eyes.

"You're crying," she said, wiping a tear from his face.

"So are you," he said smiling. "That was," he took some breaths and kissed her while doing it. "That was… Amazing."

"Was it different? Did it feel different?"

"It did, oh my god. But I think the pleasure was escalated from the thought of it, what you doing for me. I don't think I've ever gone that high before."

"I'm glad." She smiled widely at him. "Was that good enough to be forgiven for our little escapade?"

"What escapade?"

They both grinned and kissed and then Sam said, "Now it's your turn."

Sam was adept at using his hands and his mouth, and it didn't take him long to help her finish. What she had just done had already sent her close to the heights. Afterwards, they laid together, Sam's arms around Katie. He caressed her hair and her face, her breasts, gently, soothingly. Katie loved the way he touched her. She loved this man with every ounce of her being. And she never wanted to be separated from him again. Not even fur a day.

"Katie?"

"Hmm."

"When can we get married?"

She smiled sweetly and snuggled against him.

"Anytime we want to," she answered quietly.

"Good," he said. "That's good. Because I want to."

"What about Maggie and Dean?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't want to marry them."

Katie giggled. "You know what I mean. I'm wondering if they want to get married too. It would make life easier if we did it together."

"I guess. I'll talk to Dean tomorrow. But with or without them, I want to marry you, like, soon."

"I love you," she said, reaching up to touch his face. Then she added with a startle, "Look at my ring!"

She held her hand up so he could see and he brought his hand and put it against hers. Both rings were shining brightly, as if they had a light inside. And around them there was a halo of changing colors, peaceful blues and passionate purples.

"That's amazing," Sam said. "They are so beautiful now. When we were apart they got really dull, with no life in them at all."

"Ours did too." She touched his face. "I promise I will never do anything like that again. I know we'll have disagreements in the future, everyone does. But let's never leave each other, agreed?"

"Agreed," he said wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. Then he chuckled. "I wonder what color they were a little while ago."

She chuckled too. "Bright red I would imagine."

"I love you so much," he said, snuggling against her hair. "Wanna know what you mean to me, what you've done for me?"

"Of course I do."

"When I was a kid, even with the life we had, I saw the wonder in everything, the beauty of the world around me. The night sky full of stars, flowers blooming, trees turning all kinds of colors. I took the time to see those things and feel the joy and wonder in them. I was that way even after Dean came to get me and we started down the path that's led us here. But somewhere along the way, I lost the wonder. I think maybe it started when I found out I had demon blood. I don't know. But it got to where I never noticed those things anymore."

He caressed her cheek, kissed her hair. "I didn't even realize that wonder had gone, until you came along. Then, somewhere along the line I realized I was doing it again, and realized that I hadn't been for so long. And I knew I had to have you, because you brought back the wonder in my life. And I love you more than words can say."

Katie's eyes watered. "I think you just did a pretty good job of it. I love you too."

They snuggled down together and soon both were asleep. The rings glowed brightly all night, testifying to the truth of their love.

**To be continued...**

* * *

Dear readers,

Thank you for your patience. I don't like to have this much time pass between chapters. But I think it will go a little better in the future. For those of you reading Soul Searching, I hope to have another chapter out sometime this week. I hope you all had a great holiday season, whatever your faith, and I wish you all a wonderful new year filled with love, laughter, awesome sex, and sweet Sam and Dean dreams :)

Kat


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Making Plans**

* * *

In the morning both girls turned up in the kitchen without the boys, both of whom were still sleeping soundly when the girls got up. They didn't waste any time getting their news out. Maggie started it. "Dean wants to get married, like soon," she said, as she poured her coffee.

Katie was reaching for the cereal box, and she had to chuckle. "Well that doesn't surprise me, since Sam wants to do the same thing."

"Really," Maggie said happily, as they sat down at the table. "That's pretty cool then, cause we could have a double wedding. I mean, that just seems like the right thing for us to do."

"I agree. Planning a wedding will be awesome fun, and we can get Mom to help."

"Oh definitely," Maggie said. "Where should we have it?"

"Well, not in a church," Katie said. "Not after what we know of angels and all things heavenly."

"Too true," Maggie concurred. "I'd love to have it outdoors, like in a beautiful park, with a waterfall nearby, and gardens full of flowers."

"Agreed. We'll find a beautiful park and have an outdoor, double wedding."

Just then Dean walked into the kitchen, having caught the tail end of the conversation. "No," he said, as he poured a cup of coffee. "We won't be having any outdoor weddings. We'll have it right here in the bunker."

The girls looked at each other, appalled. "My dear husband-to-be," Maggie said. "Weddings are for brides, and we want to have it outdoors. And once again, you're telling us that we can't do something we want to do, like it's your right to command us. I thought we'd just been through all this."

Dean sat down at the table, biting his bottom lip. "Okay girls, I'm sorry. I'm still getting used to this polite stuff." He scratched above his ear. "I didn't mean to make it sound like a command. It's just that my mind thought the whole thing through in a split second, and came to the conclusion that there is no other choice, we have to have it here. Will you listen to my reasoning?"

"Of course," Maggie said, while Katie nodded agreement.

"Okay. Here's the thing. We all have enemies, very powerful enemies. If there were a god, he's the only one who'd know how many Sam and I have racked up. And you two have made your own enemies. Don't think the followers of that Lilitu you killed aren't going to be out for your blood. You didn't just kill her, you scammed her, you humiliated her. Believe me, there are demons out there looking for your blood."

Again the girls looked at each other, this time with expressions that said "Wow, I didn't think of that."

Dean continued. "See, if we had it anywhere outside this safe haven, my head wouldn't be in it. I'd be too on edge, constantly looking around for danger. And danger could very well turn up, and people could get hurt… or worse. I assume you're bringing friends and family from your world? Would you want to put them in harm's way?"

Again the girls looked at each other, realizing that Dean's points were totally valid. They couldn't have the wedding anywhere else."

"You thought of all that in a split second?" Katie asked.

Dean shrugged. "Pretty much."

"Huh! No wonder it sounds like you bark orders that seemingly come from out of nowhere, just because you have a need to be in control."

"I do see how I can sound, and I'm working on it. But yes, I always have reasons for what I say. I might not always be right, but I don't just 'bark orders' for the hell of it," Dean said, making quote marks with his fingers.

"Well," Maggie said, "you certainly have an excellent reason for having it here."

"Having what here?" Sam asked with a yawn as he walked into the kitchen.

"Our double wedding," Katie answered.

Sam grabbed a cup and picked up the coffee pot. "Double wedding? Cool! Of course we have to have it here," Sam said. "It wouldn't be safe to do it anywhere else."

Dean waved his arm in Sam's direction. "I rest my case."

"Yeah, okay, we get it," Katie said. "You guys are right on this one. Looking out for danger is second nature to you. Apparently, we need to learn to do that better."

"After you almost die a few times, it will become second nature to you too," Dean said.

"Okay, so we have it here," Maggie said. "We can use our own personal park for the wedding and the restaurant for the reception. It could be fun."

"Sure," Katie added. "We can decorate it up really cool, bring in lots of flowers."

"Dean?" Maggie said indicating a question was coming. "Would we be able to bring in people from outside, like caterers and stuff? A photographer? A band or a disc jockey?"

Dean and Sam looked at each other and seemed to have a silent conversation using only their eyes. "Well," Dean said, "I suppose that would be okay." But he didn't sound all that sure. He was still considering it, because he really wanted to be able to give the girls whatever they wanted. But he didn't feel entirely comfortable with it.

"No," said Sam. Everyone turned to look at him. "It would leave us open to possible infiltration."

"Oh, that's true," Maggie said, sounding very disappointed.

"What if we brought them in from our side?" Katie asked.

The boys thought about that, did their silent communication, and they both shrugged. "That would certainly be an option for safety but there are other things to consider," Sam said.

"Like what?" Katie asked.

"Well, first, you'd have to find people who can come through the portal. You might have to try quite a few before you find what you want."

Katie shrugged. "I don't have a problem with that, it will just take time. So what else?"

"There will be more people from your world who will know about us."

"And that's a problem, why?"

"It's not really a problem, I guess, but if more people on your world find out with positive proof that the supernatural exists, that there really are parallel worlds, it seems to me it could cause a widespread panic. These people will start talking."

Katie sighed, envisioning all these people going on talk shows insisting to anyone who'll listen that a parallel world exists where the boys from Supernatural are real people. "Okay that's a good point too."

"Maybe we could erase their memories," Maggie offered.

"You see any vampires around here?" Dean quipped.

"Cas could do it."

"Maybe he could, if he was running on full juice. But he's weak right now," Dean answered.

The girls were looking a bit dejected. "There must be a way to get service people in here from this world and be sure they are just humans," said Katie. "I mean, who would even know what we're doing?"

"Listen," said Maggie. "If we made all arrangements via phone or email, and we didn't tell them names, or the exact location until right before they were to come, wouldn't that be safe enough?"

"If we can run scams," Katie added, "we can pull this off without accidentally bringing in a demon or some other douche wad monster."

"And what about when they leave?" Dean asked. "They could tell people about this place."

"And say what?" Katie asked. "These people have all been to weddings at really crazy places. We lock up anything they shouldn't see, like the weapons and books that talk about supernatural things. It may seem like a strange place for a wedding to them, but it won't raise any red flags."

Again the boys did their unspoken communication, and Dean said, "Okay, that might work out. Let's go with it."

Sam wrinkled up his lips. "Are you going to make us dress up in some fancy monkey suits?"

Katie laughed. "Don't know yet. Maybe. We're gonna get Mom over here to help plan.

"Oh, awesome," Dean said with genuine affection. "We haven't seen Mom since we got back. She'll want to hear how our quest went."

"Yeah, and she's gonna bitch us out too for staying away so long. I'm sure she's worried by now," Maggie said sadly.

"We'll go today and have a long talk with her," Katie said.

"Man I wish I could go over there to your world," Dean said. "That would be so friggin' awesome. A whole world without a single monster."

The girls cleaned up their dishes, kissed their guys, and went out to the garage.

"Dude, are we friggin' nuts?" Dean asked his brother when the girls left.

Sam chuckled. "Probably."

"I mean this feels like the most insane thing we've ever done in a long list of insane things."

Again Sam had to laugh. "You're just getting cold feet. How'd this turn into a double wedding anyway?"

"Damned if I know! All I did was tell Maggie last night I wanted to get married soon. Now you guys are in it too."

"Ah! That explains it then. Cause I kinda did the same thing last night."

Dean gave Sam a glare. "We'll probably die on the same day too," he said. "Only problem is, I won't be here to say I told you so!"

"Of course we'll die on the same day, Dean. It's probably the only way we'll ever stay dead."

"Bite me!"

Sam chuckled. "Seriously though, I never thought either one of us would be planning a wedding."

"and I'm still not planning it, that's the girls' job. All I'm gonna do is show up." Dean finished his bagel and took his few dishes to the sink to wash them.

"Haha. You know what I mean."

"Yeah. I still think we're friggin' insane, but what the hell right?"

"What are you gonna do today?" Sam asked.

"I'm gonna go see what all needs to be done on the 'Cuda, in case they decide to tear ass off again, they can take their own goddamn car."

He could still hear Sam laughing as the garage door closed.

The girls were sitting in the kitchen with their mother, excitedly talking about their double wedding, and asking her to help plan it. As expected, Maria had scolded them for not coming home sooner to tell her the boys were back and that they were all fine. But she laughed with them as they told her their antics with the boys and the hunting, and taking the Impala.

"They both miss you though, Mom," Maggie said, "especially Dean. I think down deep inside himself he misses having a mom more than Sam because Sam never had one to miss. And he really has adopted you."

Maria almost cried at that. "I love them, too, I really do. And I do want to see them again, and hear about how their adventures went on the other world.

"Okay, how about this?" Katie asked. "Are you and Dad both free this weekend?"

"As a matter of fact, we are."

"Okay then, you two come for dinner Friday night, and you both can hear all about the boys adventures. We haven't even heard all of them either. Then you can stay for a day or two and help us plan the wedding."

Maria smiled widely. "That sounds like a plan."

They spent the day with their mom, looking through bridal magazines and talking excitedly. When they got back to the garage they found Dean there, working on the 'Cuda.

"Just doing some small stuff, Baby, hope you don't mind."

"Of course not," she said, with a funny look on her face.

"What's up, Sis?" Katie asked.

"The new engine," she said. "I forgot about it. I'll bet it's at Fred's waiting for me."

"Who's Fred," Dean asked.

"He owns a garage in town. I asked him if I could have it delivered there, in case we were on the road when it got here. He has tow with a crane he can use to deliver it when we're ready."

She ran inside to call Fred. Katie laughed. "Gotta love her," she said.

"And I do," Dean said, looking after Maggie with a smile. "Still hard to believe that wonderful woman loves me, too."

* * *

Dear readers,

I am still working on several stories as a ghost writer, and it is taking up much of my time. Fortunately, my back injury is o the mend, so at least that has giving me a little more time. I promise I will really try to get chapters out more quickly. Thank you for hanging in there with me. Please leave a comment if you can, they warm my heart :)


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 - Plans Interrupted

The dinner on Friday night went well, though sometimes the boys did think they were on the hot seat with Frank. They had recounted the stories about their experiences on the other world, which everyone had enjoyed, and the parents were amazed at the rings they had brought back.

"Yeah, they keep us honest," said Sam. "If things aren't going well between us, these rings will let us know."

"Speaking of that," Frank said, waving his knife at the boys. "I heard you let my girls get away from you. And you let them take your car. And you let them go hunting on their own!"

"Frankie!" Maria said in a warning tone.

"It's okay, Mom," Dean said. "He's right, and we deserve it. We screwed up. So go ahead, lay it on us."

Frank looked angry for a few long seconds, and then he burst into laughter. "That's my girls," he said. "They do what they want, these two. We couldn't handle 'em, and you ain't gonna handle 'em either. They got minds of their own."

"Yeah," Sam said contritely. "We sorta got that message."

"Loud and clear," Dean added.

"On the other hand," Sam continued, "you would have been proud of them. They did very well, they were smart and cunning, and they actually ended up saving our lives, because we didn't know there were two of the creatures."

"I am prouda them," he said. "I know what they can do." Then Frank shook his head. "But monsters. Still can't hardly grasp that. Too bad ya can't come over and live in our world."

"There's monsters there, too, Pop," said Katie, "it's just that they're human ones. And to be honest, we've met some 'monsters' here that are far better than the human ones over there."

"I don't doubt that, Little Girl, I don't doubt that at all," Frankie said emphatically.

"And besides," Maggie said, "it's illegal to kill the ones over there," at which everyone sent glances around to everyone else, but no one said a word.

After dinner, Maggie took her dad home for his poker game, and the rest of them headed for the viewing room to discuss wedding plans.

"The girls tell me that you're having it here for safety reasons. I wholeheartedly approve."

"The boys were right on this one," Katie said, "much as I hate to admit it."

"Admit we were right or admit we have to have it here?" Dean asked.

"Both," Katie said teasingly. "I mean, it's not exactly the place most girls would dream of for their wedding."

"Honey, it will be beautiful," Marie said, patting Katie's hand. "The room the boys built for you is perfect, and it already has sentimental value."

"That is true, Mom," Katie said, smiling at Sam. "It is a very special room for us, so yeah, I know it will be perfect."

"What will be perfect?" Maggie asked as she joined them.

"Having the wedding in the special park the boys made for us," Katie answered.

"Oh, for sure," Maggie agreed. "Once it was mentioned, I felt that immediately."

"Okay, so the next question is, how are we going to get things like flowers, caterers, photographers?" Marie asked. "And what about music? We have to plan all this. And, by the way, have you set a date yet?"

"No, we haven't Mom, but we all want it soon," Katie said.

"We have discussed a bit about the hiring of outside help," Maggie added. "We need to do it with false names and not give the actual address until we are ready for them to come."

Marie considered that, nodding her head. "Okay, "she said, "major secret planning, here."

'Has to be," Dean said.

"Well then, let's check the internet and see what all our options are."

"Hang on, lemme go get my laptop," Maggie said, running out of the room. She and her laptop were back in a flash. "Okay," she said, opening up the cover. "Oh, hold on a sec, I have a message flashing." She clicked a few times and then began reading. As she read, her expression turned from curiosity to amusement to concern. "Guys," she said. "Do you remember a Dr. Mitchell Weiss?"

The boys both shrugged and indicated they didn't. "Why?" Sam asked. "Should we?"

"Yeah, I think so. I think this message has to be for you."

"You got a message for us on your computer?" Dean asked.

"Well not exactly, it's really an ad. Okay listen, there's this funky blogger who posts all kinds of weirdo stuff that he finds, and so I thought that he might be a good one to follow. He could lead us to cases maybe."

"Okay?" said Sam and Dean together.

"So first I'll read you his post."

"Hello, there, all you lovers of the wild and whacky, the weird and fantastic, and the just plain crazy. Have I got a juicy one for you today. Seems like there's this guy, Dr. Mitchell Weiss, who's been putting personal ads in all the major papers in the Midwest, every day for weeks now, looking for some guys who broke into his home some years back. Why? Not for anything you might think. Does he want to have them arrested? No! Does he want to beat them up? No! Does he want them to fix his house that apparently they trashed? No! He wants them, get this, he wants them to help him get rid of a ghost! Now ain't that a blast?! Anyway, here's one of the ads, this one from the Chicago Tribune just yesterday."

"And here's the ad," Maggie said.

"Hang on a sec, I think I know where this might be going," Sam said, looking at his brother. "Remember when we tried to summon Death?"

Understanding registered on Dean's face, as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Oh, you gotta be kidding me!"

"He's not kidding. That's what I think too," Maggie said. "Listen to the ad."

"Wanted. Three men who broke into our home on Sep. 23, 2011. We need your help. You will not be arrested or hurt. We are not looking for reparations to our home. We have a problem, and we think you are the only ones who can help us. We've already tried psychics and ghost hunters. Based on what we saw you do, we believe you can help us. Please, if you see this, call the classified ad dept. of this newspaper for further instructions.

Dr. Mitchell Weiss"

"It's definitely them," Sam said.

"Wonder what they need?" Dean said.

"What does it matter?" Katie said. "We have to help them. It must be serious for them to spend thousands of dollars on all these ads."

"Well there's more," Maggie said.

They all turned to her. "What else is there?" Asked Sam. Maggie continued reading.

"Just for fun, this reporter called the Tribune and said I was one of these guys. You won't believe what happened! They said I had to answer three questions to prove who I was. Very mysterioso! So I say okay, lay those questions on me. Here's the first question, folks! 'What supernatural entity did you summon when you were in our home?' Supernatural entity? Riiight! Sounds like this guy has more money than marbles huh? This is definitely a contender for the top ten weirdies of the year. But hey, if this is all real, and the guys they want actually read this, please call this reporter with an update. My curiosity runs rampant."

Maggie looked up from her reading. "Katie's right, we have to help them."

Dean pulled out his cell phone, and Maggie was already googling the Chicago Tribune. "The number is…312-555-2222."

"Got it," Dean said and dialed the number, and put it on speaker. "Hello," Dean said, when someone answered. "I'm calling in regards to an ad you have in the paper, looking for the guys who broke into a home a few years ago."

"Yeah, sure you are," said a weary voice on the other end.

"No, seriously, I am, ask me the questions."

"Sure, why not, you're only the 100th caller… today!"

"Really? You've gotten that many callers on this?"

"Yeah, it's been a pain in my ass. Nothing but crank callers."

"Well, I'm not a crank caller, ask me the questions and you can remove the ad."

"Suuure," he drawled, sounding completely disinterested. "Here we go. Question number one, what supernatural entity did you summon when you were in our home?"

"Death," Dean said, looking proud of himself. "We summoned Death."

"Uh, yeah, right answer. Did you really…?"

"You don't wanna know, kid. What's the second question?"

Now the voice on the other end was wavering, hesitant. "Uhh, who did you want that entity to kill?"

"God," Dean said firmly.

There was a long pause on the other end, then, "Riiight. And did he?"

"No, he didn't actually. Which is good really, because he stopped being God and went back to being our friend. What's the third question?"

Everyone in the room was hiding smiles and giggles behind their hands but the other end of the line was totally quiet. "Buddy, you there? What's the third question?"

The voice on the other end cleared his throat. "Um, what artifact in our possession did you destroy during your ritual?"

Dean looked up and snapped his fingers a few times. "Oh crap, what the hell was that thing called?"

"A fulgurite," said Sam, Katie and Maggie all at once, which earned them a glare from Dean.

"It was a fulgurite," said Dean. "I would've gotten it in a minute or so," he complained sulkily.

"That's right," said the voice, still sounding weak and shaky. "Wh.. What is that?"

Now Dean puffed up with self-satisfaction. "I got this one," he said, raising his finger for emphasis. "It's an act of god, crystallized forever."

"A.. A what?" asked the voice.

"Sam laughed. "It's a crystal made from lightning. Google it."

"Right, okay, if you say so. Apparently you passed the test."

"Great," said Dean. "What's our prize?"

"A phone number."

"That's it, a phone number? No instructions?"

"Nope, just a number. Hey this is all a hoax, isn't it? I mean come on. Death? God? This isn't real, right?"

The boys exchanged a glance and a shrug.

"Okay you got me, those things never happened. But the message is real. Our friend just knew how to get our attention."

"Whew," came the sound of relief from the voice. "I knew it had to be something like that. I mean, who could believe that stuff the way it sounded?"

"Of course no one could, it would be crazy to believe that crap. But hey, can we have that number now?"

The voice said, "Sure," and gave them the number.

"Thanks, buddy, you take care, okay?" Dean said and rang off. He immediately dialed the new number and laid the phone down again. When a man answered, Dean said, "Dr. Weiss?"

"Yes, this is Dr. Weiss," the voice said warily. "And who am I speaking with please?"

"This is Dean Winchester. We've heard you've been looking for us."

"Oh, thank god!" said Dr. Weiss. "Listen, we need your help. Our daughter's family is plagued with something, it has to be something supernatural. We thought it was a ghost, but they've moved three times and it keeps happening. We've tried psychics, we've tried supposed ghost hunters, no one has been able to stop it. We wouldn't even believe it was something supernatural if you hadn't done what you did right before our eyes." There was a pause, then, "I admit we were pretty angry with you for a while, and it cost us a lot of money and headache to fix up our house, not to mention the loss of the crystal. But now, listen, if you can help us, I promise, all is forgiven. Please, can you come help us?"

"Can you tell me exactly what's happening?"

"Yes. Things move around the house. Dishes fall out of the cabinets. Things get broken. When it first happened, they moved again. Things were very quiet for a while, but then it started all over again, the same thing. Now they are in yet a third house, and it's still happening."

"Has it hurt anyone?

"Not yet, but our family is terrified, especially the kids."

Sam and Dean exchanged knowing glances. "Doctor, what are the ages of the kids?"

"You're thinking poltergeist, aren't you? That's what all the psychics thought too. But if that's what it is, no one could find it. But the kids are 15,13, 9 and 5. The psychics all think it hinges on the two older kids. They say one or both of them are creating the psychic energy that's doing this. But they've both been out of the house at some of the times when things happen. Do you think you can help us?"

"We can try, doctor, text me your address, and we'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thank you, I don't know how to thank you."

"Don't thank us yet, we haven't solved the problem. But consider this us thanking you. We owe you this."

"Sweet Mary and Joseph," Maria said, when Dean had rung off. "What you guys do is a lot more fun than being a homicide detective."

Everyone laughed. Dean said, "You wanna join us? You're welcome to join us."

Maria chuckled. "Only if you promise to tell me the summoning Death story on the way."

"You got it," said Dean. "Let's go gear up." 


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 - Making Amends**

When they arrived at the Weiss home they were welcomed warmly, though Sam and Dean both felt a bit embarrassed. "Dr. Weiss," Sam said, as he shook hands with him, "we are so sorry for what we did to your home, not to mention what we must have done to your minds."

"Please, call me Mitch, and lets forget that, shall we?" Dr. Weiss answered sincerely. "We figure you must have had a damn good reason, and maybe you'll tell us all about it one day. But right now, let's solve another problem." He led them into the large, elegant living room and introductions were made all around. Marcia, the Weiss's daughter, and her husband, Victor, were also present. Mrs. Weiss was introduced as Clarice.

Maria looked around the room in wonder. She thought this must be what was always called the drawing room in the mystery novels she read. It was large and refined, with tasteful antiques and tapestries for adornments. The couches and chairs looked comfortable though; soft overstuffed pillows covered in a rich burgundy velvet upholstery, the kind of furniture you don't see much anymore.

Refreshments were laid out on the coffee table, and everyone was seated except Dean, who leaned casually against the fireplace with his arms folded, pretending that he fit right in there.

Mitch looked over to Katie and Maggie and smiled. "So you girls are into all this supernatural stuff too, huh? How did that happen?"

The girls both laughed, and Katie said, "That's a very long and complicated story, Dr. Weiss, um, Mitch. How about we help your family first?"

Sam cut in at that point. "Can you tell us what's been going on, starting from the beginning, with as much detail as you can remember."

Marcia cleared her throat. "It started shortly after we moved from Milwaukee to Chicago. Things would just happen all by themselves. Dishes flew out of the cupboards, drawers would open and things would be strewn all around. Then there would be a time when nothing happened, sometimes for weeks, and then all of a sudden it would start up again."

Victor took up the narrative. "At first we thought one of the kids were doing it as a protest against the move. But then we saw it happen for ourselves, and no one was doing it, things were just flinging about all by themselves."

"We told Dad about it," Marcia continued, "and he said right away that it was something supernatural. Then he told us what you guys… what really happened here. At first they had said it was some sort of break-in by vandals. But when we explained what was happening to us, and we wouldn't… we just couldn't believe that, you know, about it being something supernatural, so they told us what really happened here. Not that we could believe that any easier."

"Didn't matter what we believed," Victor said. "We were willing to try anything. So we called in a psychic, one that actually had some credentials with the Chicago police department. She said it was a poltergeist, a bad one."

"She had us leave the house for two days while she did all kinds of cleansing things," Marcia said. "She told us the house should be clean, but it wasn't. Things started happening again in less than a week."

Victor looked at Sam and Dean in turn. "We looked up the history of the house. Turned out that a family who had lived there in the 1920s were all killed there in their sleep. So we researched other families who had lived there but couldn't find anyone who was still alive. The house has been vacant for over fifty years, which is why we got such a great deal on it. We've always wanted to fix up a Victorian style house."

"We talked to neighbors, anyone we thought might have some information, the Realtor we bought the house through, who had nothing to add, or maybe just didn't want to share it. By the way..." Victor got up and went to get his briefcase. He opened it and pulled out a folder and two books. "This is all the information I was able to dig up on the house and the murders. Both these books mention it, and these are copies of newspaper clippings from back when it happened."

He handed the things to Sam who took a quick glance through them. "Nice research," he complimented.

"After that, we brought in another psychic," said Marcia. "She said it could be one of our kids doing it unknowingly, that there were cases where children, especially teenagers, caused poltergeist-like phenomena with their minds. That if the child was very emotional about something, that their high psychic energy could cause it without them even knowing it. And a third psychic concluded the same thing. But they still did nothing about it."

"Were your kids angry or resentful about something?" Sam asked.

Marcia nodded. "Our two older ones, Jenny and Christopher, were very upset about the move. They hated leaving their friends and their school, so yes, they were resentful, and they acted out like teenagers do. So what the psychics were saying made some sense."

"So we did something drastic," Victor said. "We'd been in the house about four months by then, and school was about to start again. We made arrangements with my brother, who was still living in Milwaukee, to take in the two older kids so they could go back to their own school and be with their friends. We thought that would end the problem."

"But it didn't," Sam stated flatly.

"No, it did not," said Victor. "So we decided the only thing we could do was try moving, that somehow there was a ghost or something in the house, and that it wasn't being caused by our kids. So we rented another house nearby."

"So you moved, and it still happened?" Sam asked.

"Not at first," Marcia said. "At first it was wonderful. No more fighting with the kids, no more constantly being upset. Our lives had been a nightmare. We were all on edge all the time. So this was a blessed relief."

"But we no sooner got settled when it began happening again, same thing. But this time our older kids were gone. They had never even set foot in the house. I couldn't stand to see Marcia go though this all over again, so we sent Georgie and Amy here to stay with Mom and Dad," Victor nodded towards the Weisses. "But when things kept right on happening, we knew it wasn't any of the kids."

There was a pause, so Sam asked, "What did you do then?"

Victor pursed his lips. "We moved again, just the two of us, without any of the kids."

"We didn't even unpack," Marcia said. "We decided not to move in until we were sure things were going to be okay." She scoffed. "Didn't take long, less than a week."

"And that's where you are now? In that third house?"

"That's where some of our stuff is," Victor said. "We, however, are temporarily living in a hotel, without our kids. But a lot of our things are still back at the original house."

"So you still own that one?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Victor answered. "And we'd like to go back to it someday."

"Anything happen at the hotel where you're staying?" Dean asked.

"No," Victor answered, "Not so far, anyway."

"Anything happen in the places where the kids are staying?" Sam asked.

Again, Victor shook his head. "Nope, nothing. Only in the houses."

"Did things happen in any of the houses when no one was home?" Dean asked.

"Yes," Marcia said. "I was always terrified to come home from shopping or something, afraid to open the door, afraid of what I'd find there."

"But I understand that no one ever got hurt, is that right?" Sam asked.

"That's right," said Victor. "Even when things were flying around, it was almost like whatever was doing it knew where we were and deliberately avoided hurting anyone."

"So you got the impression it was something or someone who knew what it was doing, who was conscious of what it was doing?"

"Oh very definitely. It didn't seem like simple chance that no one was hurt."

Sam and Dean exchanged glances, and Dean winked at Sam with a mischievous smile. "So girls," he said, "what are your thoughts?"

Now it was Katie and Maggie who exchanged glances. Then Katie said, "Well… I don't think it's a poltergeist in the truest sense of the word. There are other things it could be."

"Like what?" Victor asked her.

"Well, it could be a cursed object, but I'm not leaning that way because of the deliberation. It doesn't want to hurt anyone. That means it's conscious of what it's doing. What I think it is, is a ghost possessed object."

"Ghosts can possess objects?" Marcia asked, wonderingly.

"We've seen it before," Sam said, "and I agree with my future wife," he said grinning at her. "That seems like the most likely thing. Here's what we know from your story. One, the kids aren't doing it. Two, it seems to be aware. Three, it's not confined to the first house; ghosts usually can't leave the place they're haunting except in exceptional circumstances. Four, it's most likely not a poltergeist, contrary to the conclusions of your psychics. I hope you got your money back, by the way."

Dean took up the narrative. "Poltergeists come in two flavors; the supernatural kind and the psychic energy kind. Your paid psychics, if they really were psychics, should have known that, and should have been able to sense the difference. And they could have easily ruled out the psychic kind just as you yourselves did. Nice job by the way, in eliminating possibilities," he said, smiling at Victor.

"The supernatural kind, like ghosts, very rarely, if ever, go from place to place. But the telling thing there is, they are not a consciousness as we know it. They are vicious and destructive. They wouldn't care if they hurt anyone," Sam said.

"It's more likely they would deliberately try to hurt someone," said Dean.

"Exactly," Sam continued. "So keeping all that in mind, whatever it is, is most likely attached to an object, and it seems to care about not hurting anyone. So again, we can rule out cursed object for the same reason we're ruling out poltergeist; it hasn't hurt anyone."

"May I?" Katie asked. Sam smiled and yielded the floor to her.

"I'm pretty sure that the only thing that makes sense here is a haunted object, or if you prefer, a ghost possessed object. Now we can't know for sure, and you guys can tell me if you agree, but I surmise the object is something that was in that house when that family got killed, and somehow, one of you found it and is keeping it, which is why it's moving around with you."

"You get a gold star, Little Sis," Dean said, beaming. "My conclusion exactly."

"I knew you guys could figure this out," exclaimed Dr. Weiss.

"Funny how no one else so much as talked about these different possibilities," said Victor. "So are you guys psychics, too?"

Both Sam and Dean smiled with a chuckle. "No," Sam answered. "We're hunters."

"Hunters?" Victor asked, using that one single word to convey more than a simple question.

Once again Sam and Dean exchanged glances, and Dean shrugged. "Might as well, we kind of owe them that after what we put them through."

Sam sniffled. "If you're all sure you want to hear this, we'll tell you. But it will totally change your world view forever. You probably won't like what you hear."

The other couples exchanged glances of their own. "Will it explain why you did what you did here four years ago?" Dr. Weiss asked.

"If you want, yes, we can explain that."

"Okay then, I, for one, am in. My world view already changed after that incident, so it would be nice to maybe put some reasons behind it."

The others nodded, though a bit hesitantly, but they were already wading in the shallow end of the pool, so why not dive in the deep end?

"Okay, but how about we table that for now, and finish getting the lowdown on this case first." Dean said.

"What else would you like to know?" Victor asked.

"When was the last time you know of that something happened in the house where your possessions are?" Dean asked.

The day we left there, which was almost four weeks ago." Victor answered.

"You haven't been back since?"

"No."

"And the house is where, in Chicago?"

"Yes, they all are."

"Including the original house, where the family was murdered?"

"Yes."

Dean thought for a moment. "And two of your kids are here, and two are in Milwaukee?"

"That's correct."

"Okay good, Now, when you moved into the house where the murders happened, were there things still there that belonged to previous residents?"

"Tons," said Marcia with feeling. "The attic was full of stuff, and there was a lot of furniture still there."

"Did you keep any of the stuff?"

Marcia looked at Victor. "Yes we all did, I think. For being so old, much of it was in very good shape still, and we plan to refinish some of the furniture. The kids all found things they thought were neat, and I like antiques, so yeah, we kept a lot of it."

"Well whatever it is that the ghost is attached to has to be something that went with you to all three houses, and is most likely in the last house, or in the possession of someone in your family," Sam said. "So for now, that's where we need to place out focus."

Dean thought a while, figuring distances and times. "Okay, Victor, you available for a road trip?"

"I'm available for anything you need," he answered. "We all are."

"Shouldn't we talk price?" Dr. Weiss said. "I mean, we don't really care, whatever it is, but shouldn't we get that out of the way?"

Sam and Dean both stared at him. "We don't charge for what we do," Sam said.

"What?" Dr. Weiss exclaimed. "But how do you live? What about expenses?"

"Doc, if you wanna help with expenses, that's fine, but we don't charge folks for what we do," Dean said.

"As for how we live, best you don't know," Sam said with a sly smile.

"So here's the plan. Victor, you and I are going to go check out the current house, and maybe swing by and talk to your oldest children. The rest of you stay here, talk to the younger kids, and research the Chicago murders. We'll get the rest of you guys settled in a motel before we get on the road."

"You will do no such thing," Mrs. Weiss exclaimed. "You will first have dinner; it's just about ready, and you can discuss your plans further. And we have three perfectly good guest bedrooms you can use. There's no sense incurring the extra expense of a hotel. We've had this all planned for your arrival."

Dean stared at her retreating back as she left to check on the dinner in the kitchen. She had said that with such a no-nonsense tone that Dean didn't dare to contradict her. "Yes ma'am," he said softly, though she was no longer there to hear him.

"You can't argue with Mom once she makes up her mind," Victor said." All you can do is graciously go along with it. I learned that early on."

Dean grinned and glanced over at Maria. "We know how that is," he said, and Victor sent him a knowing smile.

When everyone was seated at dinner, Sam asked, "Where are the kids?"

"They are staying overnight with friends," Clarice said. "We figured we'd like them out of the way for now."

"So come on boys," Mitch said. "You promised you'd tell us about this hunter business, so this is as good a time as any."

Sam nodded and blew out his lips. "Okay then, here's the deal. There's more out there in the supernatural world than ghosts and poltergeists. Much more. Most supernatural things are evil, dangerous to humans. What we do is hunt these things and take care of them to help keep humans safe."

"You kill them?" asked Marcia.

"What other things?" asked Victor.

Sam held up his hand to slow things down. "Most things, yes, we have to kill them. Things like vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters, pretty much anything you've thought of as a fictitious monster is real."

"It goes beyond that, though, doesn't it?" Dr. Weiss asked. "It goes way beyond that based on what we saw here."

Sam nodded. "Yes it does, it goes into religious mythology as well. So we have angels, demons and other things like that."

"Like Death being a real person? Like God being a real person?" Dr. Weiss really wanted to know the answers to the questions that had been haunting him for years. "Tell me, please, what actually happened in my home that night? Why did you come here?"

Dean scratched the side of his head and looked down with an expression that said he knew what was coming, and he wished they didn't have to go there.

"Mitch, you're right. There are some very powerful supernatural entities out there. Probably the most powerful one is Death. He is the personification of the concept of death. There are or were a lot of those."

"Were?" Mitchell asked. "What happened to the ones that aren't anymore?

Dean chuckled. "We did," he said.

"Here's the thing," Sam said. "We've been doing this all our lives. Our mom was killed by a demon when I was just six months old. Our dad became a hunter to get revenge. This plunged us into this life like it or not. A lot of things have gone on that most people are oblivious to. As it happens, Dean and I, along with a few friends and a fallen angel, managed to stop some pretty horrific things from happening. What you two witnessed right here in this room was one of those things."

The room was so silent you could have heard the proverbial pin drop. Everyone stopped eating in mid stride.

Sam continued. "Our friend, the fallen angel, his name is Castiel. We call him Cas. Something happened to him along the way. While trying to do what he thought was the right thing to stop a catastrophe, he ended up causing something even worse to happen. He got himself filled up with souls, long story about how, and it changed him, made him think he was so powerful that he was god."

"I remember that!" Marcia exclaimed. "It was all over the news about this guy who was killing whole congregations and preachers and stuff, and he was saying he was god!"

"Yeah," Sam agreed, "that was Cas."

"And that's why you wanted Death to come and kill him?" Dr. Weiss asked.

"Yes, because he was out of control. But you saw how that ended. All we did was get Death pissed off at us," said Dean, "which, believe me, is not something you want to happen."

"So what happened to your friend?" Clarice asked

Sam chuckled. "A lot of things that make for long stories. But in the end he got better. Sort of. Other things happened, and at the moment he's trying to get Heaven back in shape and also deal with a personal problem."

"And how did you happen to pick our house to do this?"

"We found the auction listing from when you bought the fulgurite," Sam said. "We needed that for the spell."

No one said a word for a very long time. Then Dr. Weiss spoke up. "You know, no offense, but if I hadn't seen what I saw with my very own eyes, I would think you guys belong in a loony bin."

"No offense taken, Doc," said Dean, "but we've already been there, and quite often I think we're headed back there. But somehow we keep on trucking."

"The girls," Sam said. "The girls came into our lives, and they help to keep us sane."

"And drive us crazy too," Dean added.

Clarice looked over at Maria. "And you're the girls' mother?" When Maria nodded she said, "How do you deal with this? Have you always known about all this too?"

Dean clapped his hands twice and said, "That's a whole other can of worms, and we have a case to solve. Let's get back to that."

Victor nodded. "Okay, you said you and I were going to go to the house in Chicago?"

"Yes, and probably to Milwaukee to see the boys. We need to know what each of them and also you two kept from the house, and where it is right now. Then we'll run the EMF over it and see if life is going to make this simple for us."

Victor raised his eyebrows. "The EMF?"

"It's a device that sometimes indicates paranormal activity, but somehow I don't think it will be that easy. Nothing ever is. Mrs. Weiss…"

"Clarice, please."

"Clarice," Dean corrected himself. "This is by far the best meal we have had in a very long time."

Maggie glared at him, and everyone laughed. "While working in a case, I mean," and they all laughed again.

Then Maggie smiled at Clarice. "We're just teasing him, this is a wonderful meal. You'll have to tell us how you made the roast so tender and juicy."

"Of course I will dear," Clarice said with a big grin. It was obvious that she loved cooking for people, and she beamed with pride. "Now, I'll clear the table so you all can work, and I'll bring out the pies."

"Pies!" Dean exclaimed, "as in plural?"

"Yes, Dear, pies. Why, do you like pies?"

Sam and the girls almost choked with laughter.

"I'll take that as a yes," Clarice said, as she began clearing the table.

"Let me help you, Clarice," Maria said, getting up. "I'm just here for the ride."

When the table was clear, several laptops took the place of dishes, and the newspaper clippings and the two books were laid out on the table. No one said a word for a while as they all delved into their research. In about twenty minutes, Maria and Clarice came back with several pies and laid them on the table, along with forks and dessert plates. Dean looked like he was trying very hard to remain poised, but finally he lost it. "Cherry, coconut crème, and key lime?" he asked.

"Precisely," said Clarice. "Which one would you like?" When Dean didn't speak up and the others were hiding grins, Clarice added, "First. I meant which one would you like first?"

"Surprise me," he said, and Clarice cut him a slice of the cherry pie and laid it before him.

He took a bite. "Holy cow!" he exclaimed. "This is amazing!"

Before the evening ended, Dean did, indeed, sample all the pies, and handed out assignments for the next day. By eleven they had gone over everything they had there, and a few things Sam found that weren't, per se, legally available over the Internet. They decided to call it a night and were shown to their rooms.

Before falling asleep, however, Maria took a few minutes to marvel at this life the girls were living. She could see the appeal, and she was happy to be a part of this case. In fact, she was very excited to see what tomorrow would bring.

* * *

Dear Readers,

I am sorry for the wait between chapters. While I would love to just write about my boys (and girls) I have writing for hire that has to be done on deadlines. Please don't get discouraged though. I promise I will not stop writing this story until it's finished. And I already have a theme for another sequel :)

Kat

SamGirl27


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Where is That Friendly Ghost?

In the morning at breakfast, they went over what they had found out the previous night. "Here's what we know," Sam started. "or at least think is probable. "There is a ghost, but it isn't haunting the property, at least not anymore. It is most likely one of the family who was killed in 1926. But since we don't know yet if anyone ever lived there afterward, there's a slight possibility it's someone else."

"But that's the most reasonable place to start," Dean added.

"Yes," Sam agreed. "Now, what we know about the family from 1926 that died there is this: There were five people, two parents and three children, ages 14, 12 and 7. We do not know the children's names or sex. The parents were James and Kathleen Foster, 38 and 35. All of them were found in their beds with their throats slit. They thought the father may have woken up when his wife was killed, based on his position, but they couldn't say for sure. None of the kids woke up, thankfully. Also, the father had additional cuts on his face and arms, leading them to suspect it might have been a revenge killing against the father. But they could find nothing to sustain that theory. The case was never solved."

Dean took up the narrative. "Because no one has ever been hurt during these episodes, it seems likely that the ghost is trying to get our attention, maybe trying to send us a message. Murdered people often want to know who their murderers were, or want justice. If the ghost had already gone vengeful, it wouldn't have been so nice. Someone would have gotten hurt."

"Whatever the object is," Sam continued, "it has moved from place to place. The most likely place for it to be now is in the third house, since there has been no activity around any of your family when they were out of the house."

Dean swallowed a bite of ham. "Which is why we're going there first. There should be evidence of additional activity if that's where it is. Clarice, this breakfast is awesome!"

Maggie spoke up then. "So you want us to talk to the two kids that are here about the things they took from the original house?"

Dean frowned in thought. "I'm rethinking that," he said. "If it's in the third house, like I think, then there's no point in getting the kids all worked up. The third house is the place to start. If that doesn't solve it, or point us in a direction, then we'll go from there."

"Then we wanna come too," Katie said. "After all, this can be a great learning experience for us."

Sam smiled indulgently. "Take them with you, Dean, I can hold down the fort here. I'll do some more digging into the historical stuff, see if I can find out if anyone else ever lived in the house."

"Okay then, that's a plan. Let's get on the road. We'll be back late enough as it is."

"Dad and I are going to go get the kids," Marcia said then. "We should be back before dinner."

After they all left, Sam sat down at the dining room table like he did the night before and spread out his things.

"Is there anything I can do?" Maria asked, taking a seat across from him.

"Not at the moment, but thank you," Sam replied.

Maria watched Sam in awe as he called libraries, police departments, property records offices, and newspaper archives, switching from one identity to another with ease. Within two hours he had discovered that another family, the Foxworth Harrisons, had indeed moved into the house shortly after the murders, but had stayed only a few months, and that they had received a refund for their down payment after threatening litigation.

After the murders, the house had passed to Melvin Foster, James' brother, who lived across the country and wasn't able to come and take care of it, so he put it into the hands of a real estate agent, presumably the one who had sold the house to the Harrisons. Some time later Melvin Foster died without heirs, and the property was claimed by the city for back taxes. Finally, it was sold to Victor Manning for taxes owed, and that brought them up to date.

"Well that pretty much tears it. The ghost must be one of the murdered family," Sam told Maria.

Maria looked distressed. "That's so sad, you know, that family, those kids."

Sam looked at her thoughtfully. "You're a police detective,  
he said. "You must run into sad things all the time."

"Pretty much every day," she agreed. "But you never get over the sadness. If you do, it's time to turn In your badge."

Sam took a deep sigh. "Yeah! Pretty much get that too."

"You know watching you do all that has been an education. I think I need to beef up the security in my department, train my boys how to recognize when they're being played." She put on a teasing expression. "How would you like to come teach them how to avoid talking to people like you?"

Sam chuckled. "I'd love to, Maria, as soon as you figure out how I can get to your world. You know I can't go through the portal."

"Get to her world!" Clarice exclaimed, walking into the room. "Go through the portal? What on earth do you mean by that?"

Sam and Maria both closed their eyes in dismay. Then Sam smiled with a chuckle. "That's another long story you might not believe, Clarice."

"Oh, I'll believe anything at this pint, and you have time to tell it. Come have lunch, you two."

Sam looked at his watch. "Is it lunch time already?" he remarked in surprise.

"It is. Now come before it gets cold."

Sam looked down at his dinner plate in utter amazement. "Are these homemade chicken pot pies?" he exclaimed.

"That they are," Clarice answered with obvious pride, punctuated by her wide grin. "Does that warrant a good story?"

Sam chuckled again. "Okay, you have me. It sure does. But you still might not believe it. And Clarice, you really can't tell anyone else, except your family."

"Promise. Now, try me."

Sam looked over at Maria and smiled. "Maria and her daughters are not from this world. They come from a parallel world."

Clarice looked from Sam to Maria and back again. "That's hardly a long story," she said calmly.

"Yeah, well, you haven't heard it all yet," Sam replied. "And by the way, this chicken pot pie is the best I have ever tasted, and I mean ever."

"Thank you," she said, her pride still evident.

"Okay, story. So one day, Dean and I are just tooling down the road, minding our own business, when suddenly, two girls turn up in the back seat of our car. After a couple weeks of working on the how and why, it turned out that an angel put a portal there for them to come through, because they had been chosen as our soul mates."

Sam stopped to take a few more bites, and Maria watched Clarice with amusement as she tried to process all that. After a few minutes of consideration, Clarice said, "So an angel had to go all the way to another world to find soul mates for the two of you?"

"That's what we were told… Eventually!"

"So wait? Angels really go around finding people soul mates?"

"Well, I guess not everyone, or not as a general rule. I mean, sometimes, I guess. I don't really know. This was done as a favor for our friend, Cas, the one we told you about."

"I see." Clarice said. "But if this is a parallel world, aren't those girls here too?"

"No, it's not completely parallel. But if someone exists on one world, they can't go to the other one."

"Ah, so you boys exist on the other world then?" This made both Sam and Maria laugh, so Clarice looked perplexed.

"We do and we don't," Sam said, scraping the last spoonful of chicken pie out of the bowl.

"And that was supposed to clear things up, was it?" Clarice asked humorously.

"No, it was just a start. See, on that world, there is a TV show called, not unexpectedly, 'Supernatural,' and it follows our lives here on this world. And really, just know that that all came about from the intervention of deities on several worlds, and go with it. So on their world, we are a TV show, and the actors, who are not us, but play us on TV, and who have very different names, happen to look exactly like us. So I'm guessing that's why we can't go through the portal."

Clarice stared at Sam for a very long time. Finally she spoke. "You're stretching the limits of credulity, now, Sam."

"I don't doubt it," he said matter-of-factly. "But I did warn you."

"That you did," she said with a friendly laugh. "You don't have to worry about me telling anyone else. No one would believe me, and I'd just get myself locked up."

Sam winked at her and she smiled back at him. "I have to get back to work," he announced.

"I'll bring your pie into the dining room," Clarice said to his retreating back.

Maria stood up too. "Let me help you with the dishes," she said.

As Maria cleared the table, Clarice cut Sam a piece of pie and took it to him. As they did the dishes, Clarice asked, "Do you miss your girls, then, having them live on another world? Or I guess you can visit them anytime, huh?"

"Actually, no. One of them has to be with me for me to come through. I think that's the way those angels set it up."

"Maybe you can get them to change that sometime," she said with a grin.

"Would that I could." She stopped drying a dish for a moment and looked out into space. "But I love those boys like they were my own, and I know my girls are in good hands. I'm looking forward to the wedding."

"Wedding? Which ones are getting married, then?"

"All of them, double wedding, Sam and Katie, Dean and Maggie."

"Oh, that's wonderful. I will have to make something special for them."

"I'm sure they'd like that," Maria said smiling.

"When will it be?"

"Well, that's what we were planning when they got your message. That's why I'm over here."

"Ah, so all of this ghost hunting stuff is a new experience for you too, then?"

"Yes it is, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. It's quite different from being a cop."

"You're a cop?"

"Lieutenant, actually, so not all that often out on the streets anymore."

"If you're world is parallel to ours, you must have ghosts and monsters there too, right?"

"No, not at all. Just monsters of the human variety."

"Or you do, and you just don't know it."

"Now there's a comforting thought," Maria said, as she hung up the dish towel.

Dishes finished, they joined Sam at the table. "Anything new?" Maria asked.

"Actually, yes" Sam answered. "I just got done speaking with the son of Foxworth Harrison, name of Albert. He remembers being in that house briefly, says he was terrified. Things moved around all the time, sometimes fell off tables. But apparently, even though it frightened them away, it wasn't as bad as it seems to be now."

"That makes sense, doesn't it?" Maria asked. "I mean doesn't it take some time for them to learn how to do things?"

"Yes, that's true, so it definitely would make sense. And it verifies our suspicions that the ghost is from the murdered family."

"I wonder which one it is," Maria mused.

"Most likely the dad, but that's not definite. Anyway, hopefully Dean will have something more when they get to the house. Just then his phone rang and he looked at it. "Speak of the devil." He pressed the key and answered it. "Hey, Dean, what's up?"

"Nothing," he said, with a disappointed tone. "Zilch, zip, nada. Nary a whisper of anything out of place here."

"EMF?"

"A small trace," he answered, "but that is a puzzle, because there are some very low hints of it, residual, as though maybe something was here at one point, but not anymore."

"Where in the house?" Sam asked.

"Master bedroom."

"So maybe it was there, in the master bedroom, and came with them when they left there."

"That's my theory too, but since we're here, we're going to go check on the first house. What have you got?"

Sam reported on his finds from the morning, chided him about missing his share of pie, and they rang off. "They've basically got nothing, except maybe some residual EMF in the master bedroom."

"Residual EMF?"

"Very light traces, as if a ghost was there at one point, probably recently, because that wears off, but not enough for it to be there now. Especially since nothing at all has been disturbed."

"So what now?" Maria asked him.

"Now it looks like we're going to have to start the process of looking for the object among the family members. It seems unlikely that it could have been left at the last house and not be creating some mischief.

Thirty minutes later the phone rang again. "Dean," Sam answered.

"Sammy this is not making any sense. This house is in total disarray. Whatever it is, it's here in this house."

"EMF?"

"All over the freaking place. It's definitely here."

"But, Dean, how can that be, if it manifested in the other two houses as well?"

"You got me, Sam, but this house is definitely affected. I'm going to send you some pictures, and we'll check this place out."

Sam hung up and the pictures came in, which Sam printed out on his portable printer. Clarice picked them up and looked at them with a frown. "This is the worst I've seen or heard of it yet. Is something making it act up even more?"

"That would be my guess, Clarice. What's odd is that this is happening in the first house, while the third house, where we expected activity to be, is totally quiet. That doesn't make sense."

"Why does there have to be only one ghost?" Maria asked. "After all, there were five murders."

Sam smiled at Maria. "You're a genius," he said. "And I must be slipping, because that's a very obvious question." He took out his phone and pressed 1. "Dean, we may be looking at two ghosts," he said, when his brother answered.

"Yep, Maggie just had the same thought."

"Like mother, like daughter, then, because Maria just suggested that here. You and I had better be careful, or we're going to be outdone by the ladies."

"Oh, and you think that hasn't already happened?" Dean complained with humor. "Anyway, we're trying to find the one that's here. It may or may not be attached to an object. But the other one definitely is, so you might as well start looking for that one there. I'll keep in touch."

Dean rang off, and Sam related the new theory to Clarice and Maria. Sam ran upstairs to get his EMF meter from his pack. "We'll need this for when the kids get back," he said when he returned. "This whole thing has just become much more intriguing." 


End file.
